Translation support system

ABSTRACT

A translation support system and the like are provided that is capable of preventing wasteful tasks due to simultaneous operations by more than one person and preventing inconsistent translation of translation words even in a case where a number of persons are simultaneously involved in the translation operations. The translation support system includes: a transfer unit transferring translation word approval request information to an approver terminal of an approver, the translation word approval request information including an original word or phrase received from a request-source terminal requesting to the approver an approval of a translation word of a particular original word or phrase; an approval request information storage unit storing translation word approval result information including at least approve-or-reject information corresponding to the translation word approval request information received from the approver terminal and an approved translation word corresponding to the original word or phrase; a notification storage unit storing notification message corresponding to the approve-or-reject information; a notification determination unit determining, in accordance with the approve-or-reject information, the necessity of notification to the terminals other than the request-source terminal and determine which piece of the notification message should be notified to each of the terminals; and a notification transmission unit transmitting notification information to terminals for which notification or respective notifications have been determined to be necessary, the notification information including the notification message in accordance with the determination by the notification determination unit, the original word or phrase, and the approved translation word.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/030,736, filed Apr. 20, 2016, which is a 371 National Phase ofPCT/JP2014/076732, filed Oct. 6, 2014, herein incorporated in theirentirety by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a translation support system, a serverof a translation support system, a client of a translation supportsystem, a control method for a translation support system, and a programthereof, and in particular relates to a translation support systemadapted to assist translation operations that are simultaneouslyperformed by multiple translators, a control method for the translationsupport system, and a program thereof.

BACKGROUND ART

Traditionally, a translation support system is known according to which,in a case where more than one translator is involved in translating onesingle original text while taking charge of only part of it, identifiermarks prohibiting translation of terms marked thereby are added to termswhich are contained in the original text and registered in a termdictionary, and one editor replaces terms that are yet to be translatedby translation words using the term dictionary at the final stage of thetranslation operations, and thus the translation support systemaccelerates the translation and ensures standardization of thetranslation words (Patent Literature 1).

Also, a method for standardization of translation words in a machinetranslation system is known according to which translation words of atranslated text are replaced by replacement translation words when thesetranslation words corresponding to dictionary entries satisfy particularassociation conditions and thereby standardization of the translationwords is realized (Patent Literature 2).

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H05-324716

Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-210194 SUMMARYOF INVENTION Technical Problem

Meanwhile, according to the techniques of the above-identified PatentLiterature 1, numerous yet-to-be-translated terms may remain to existwith the translation-prohibiting identifier marks added thereto, whichincreases load upon the final-stage translation operation(s) causingprolonged time required for the operation(s), which may make itdifficult to strike a balance between ensuring standardization of thetranslation words and delivering the translated text before a desireddeadline. Also, it is difficult to confirm, in the course of thetranslation operation, the specific translation words into which theyet-to-be-translated terms with the translation-prohibiting identifiermarks will be translated. When the prohibition of translation ismaintained though it is necessary to use a different translation word ata particular location of the original text, an editor who is not fullyfamiliar with the content of the original text may standardize the termsin a mechanical manner, as a result of which the meaning of the originaltext may not be correctly reproduced in the translated text.

In addition, application of the techniques of Patent Literature 2, whichcontemplates machine translation, to standardization of translationwords in a conventional translation may require complicated setting ofthe association conditions, and the setting of the conventionalassociation conditions is performed by viewing part of the originaltext, which means that not all of the conditions are specified and it isaccordingly necessary to specify a considerable number of newconditions. In addition, the conditions that were specified once mayneed to be modified. As such, the state of the art techniques are notsuited in particular for a case where multiple translators aresimultaneously involved in the translation operations with a shortdelivery period, which is the problem associated with the state of theart techniques. Particularly, translation words for one verb often haveto be chosen in accordance with the context of the content of thedescriptions of the original text. As a result, when the translatorschoose translation words for a verb according to their own decisions andthe constituent translated text portions created by the individualtranslators are consolidated into one complete translated text,standardization of the translation words of the complete translated textas a whole will require extremely cumbersome operations.

In such a case, an approach may be contemplated according to which acertain translator having particularly excellent skill first reads partof the original text and defines the translation words for the principalwords and phrases and creates a translation word list, the translationword list thus created are distributed to the other translators, and theother translators refer to this translation word list and proceed withtheir individual translation operations. However, methodology of thiskind implies that the other translators other than the one who createsthe translation word list cannot proceed with their operations exceptfor at most scanning the original text until the translation word listis created, so that they cannot start their full-fledged translationoperations, which is another problem associated with the state of theart techniques. Also, since the translator who creates the translationword list reads only part of the original text, he/she cannot defineappropriate translation words for those that will appear for the firsttime in the latter half of the original text, which is still anotherproblem associated with the state of the art techniques. Further, it isdifficult to make appropriate responses to subsequent needs ofmodifications to the translation words already existing in the wordlist.

Further, for example, in various industrial devices such as medicaldevices, measurement devices, and machining devices which incorporatetechniques from different fields of technology, components pertaining toother technical fields and constituting the constituent parts of thedevice are often combined along with the one pertaining to the field oftechnology which is the main topic of the original document. When thetranslation words are standardized in a mechanical manner, it may happenthat the meaning of the original text cannot be correctly reproduced.When standardization of the translation words of the translated text isfully sought in such a case, each translator needs to successivelyconfirm whether or not each of the translation words of a certainoriginal word or phrase of his/her own section for which he/she is incharge of translation are really in agreement with each of thetranslation words of the same original word or phrase of the othertranslators one after another. When the former translation words do notagree with the latter translation words, then the translator needs toconfirm the cause of the inconsistency and standardize the translationwords for any sections where the standardization is necessary. In thismanner, when translation involves more than one translator, there is theneed of minimizing the workload caused by the participation of thetranslators.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a translationsupport system, a control method for a translation support system, aserver of the translation support system, a client of the translationsystem, and a control program thereof which provide solutions to theseproblems and are capable of preventing wasteful tasks (overhead) due tosimultaneous operations by more than one translator such as approvalrequest operation, approval operations for translation words, andconfirmation operation for approval results, and thus preventinginconsistent translation of translation words even in a case where anumber of persons are simultaneously involved in the translationoperations.

Solution to Problem

In order to solve the above problems, the translation support systemaccording to the present invention is a translation support systemallowing communication between a server and a plurality of clients via acommunication line.

The clients include a request-source client and an approver client. Therequest-source client is operated by a translator of a request-sourcerequesting to an approver an approval of a translation word of aparticular original word or phrase, and the approver client is operatedby the approver.

The server includes a transfer unit configured to transfer translationword approval request information to the approver client, thetranslation word approval request information including at least anoriginal word or phrase received from the request-source client; anapproval request history storage unit configured to store approvalresult information at least including: the translation word approvalrequest information received from the approver client; approve-or-rejectinformation in accordance with the translation word approval requestinformation; and an approved translation word that is a translation wordcorresponding to the original word or phrase; a notification storageunit configured to store notification message information in accordancewith the approve-or-reject information; a notification determinationunit configured to determine, in accordance with the approve-or-rejectinformation, necessity of notification to a client or clients other thanthe approver client and determine which piece of the notificationmessage information stored in the approval request history storage unitshould be notified to each of the clients; and a notificationinformation generation unit for transmitting approval information, inaccordance with the determination by the notification determinationunit, to one or more clients for which notification or respectivenotifications have been determined to be necessary, the approvalinformation including the notification message information, the originalword or phrase, and the approved translation word in accordance with theclient or clients for which the notification or the respectivenotifications have been determined to be necessary.

The client includes an original text storage unit configured to store atleast an original text portion within an assignment range of which atranslator operating the client is in charge of translation; an approvallist information generation unit configured to generate approval listinformation for displaying an approval list on a screen of the clientusing the approval information received from the server, the approvallist containing at least the original word or phrase and the approvedtranslation word; and search unit configured to check whether or not theoriginal word or phrase included in the approval information iscontained in the original text portion within the assignment range.

The approval list information generation unit is configured to generatedisplay attribute information of either the original word or phrase orthe translation word such that the attribute information of the originalword or phrase is different from that of the translation word, dependingon a case where the original word or phrase of the approval listinformation is contained in the original text portion within theassignment range and another case where the original word or phrase ofthe approval list information is not contained in the assignmentoriginal range as a result of the search by the search unit.

In order to solve the above problems, preferably, in the translationsupport system according to the present invention, the client furtherincludes a determination unit configured, in a translation operation fortranslating the original text portion within the assignment range into apredetermined language, to determine that a different translation wordhas been selected as a translation word for the particular original wordor phrase, the different translation word being different than theapproved translation word corresponding to the same original word orphrase of the approval information; and a caution information generationunit configured to generate caution information when the determinationunit has determined that the different translation word has beenselected, the different translation word being different than theapproved translation word corresponding to the same original word orphrase of the approval information, the caution information including atranslator ID identifying the operator of the other client or at leastone piece of other information identifying the other client, theoriginal word or phrase, the approved word or phrase, and the differenttranslation word, wherein the caution information is transmitted to atleast either one of the server and the approver client.

In order to solve the above problems, the method of controlling atranslation support system according to the present invention is controlmethod for confirmation of a newly approved translation word in atranslated text in a translation support system allowing communicationbetween a management server and a plurality of clients.

The method includes a timing arrival determination step of determiningwhether or not a predetermined confirmation timing is reached; a newapproval information determination step of determining presence orabsence of a new approval information; in response to the timing arrivaldetermination step having determined that the predetermined confirmationtiming was reached and further in response to the new approvalinformation determination step having determined that the new approvalinformation exists, an original word or phrase search step of checkingwhether or not an original word or phrase included in the new approvalinformation is contained in an original text which an operator of aparticular client should translate; a translation word search step ofchecking whether or not an approved translation word included in the newapproval information is included in a translation file translated by theoperator of the particular client; and in response to the original wordor phrase being contained in the original text which the operator of theparticular client should translate and further in response to theapproved translation word not being included in the translation filethat has been translated by the operator of the particular client, areport information generation step of generating report informationincluding information indicating that the approved translation word isnot included in the translation file that has been translated by theoperator of the particular client.

In order to solve the above problems, the method of controlling atranslation support system according to the present invention is aconfirmation and control method for a translation word approval requestin a translation support system allowing communication between aplurality of clients and a management server, the clients including anapprover client operated by an approver, the management server storingan approval request history file, and the approval request history fileincluding at least an original word or phrase and an approvedtranslation word corresponding to the original word or phrase.

The method includes, in the management server, a request history searchstep of searching the approval request history file using an originalword or phrase and a requested translation word included in translationword approval request information received from a particular client; inresponse to the same original word or phrase and an approved translationword that is the same as the requested translation word already existingin the approval request history file in the request history search step,a first notification generation step of generating first notificationinformation indicating that an approval has already been made for thesame original word or phrase and the same approved translation word forthe particular client; in response to the same original word or phraseand a different translation word already existing in the approvalrequest history file in the request history search step, a secondnotification generation step of generating second notificationinformation indicating that an approval has already been made for thesame original word or phrase and the different translation word andasking whether or not consent should be given to the differenttranslation word for the particular client; in response to a responsemessage received from the particular client in response to the secondnotification information including information indicating that theconsent should not be given to the different translation word, a thirdnotification generation step of generating third notificationinformation notifying the original word or phrase and the translationword included in the translation word approval request information andindicating that this request is a re-request to the approver client; andin response to the same original word or phrase not existing in theapproval request history file in the history search step, a fourthnotification generation step of generating fourth notificationinformation for notifying an original word or phrase included in thetranslation word approval request information to the approver client.

In order to solve the above problems, the method of controlling atranslation support system according to the present invention is aconfirmation and control method for a translation word approval requestin a translation support system allowing communication between aplurality of clients and a management server, the clients including anapprover client operated by an approver, the approver client beingconfigured to store approval request history file including at least anoriginal word or phrase and an approved translation word correspondingto the original word or phrase.

The method includes, in the approver client, a history search step ofsearching the approval request history file using an original word orphrase and a requested translation word included in translation wordapproval request information received from a particular client; inresponse to the same original word or phrase and an approved translationword that is the same as the requested translation word already existingin the approval request history file in the history search step, a firstnotification generation step of generating first notificationinformation indicating that an approval has already been made for thesame original word or phrase and the same translation word to theparticular client; in response to the same original word or phrase and adifferent translation word already existing in the approval requesthistory file in the history search step, a second notificationgeneration step of generating second notification information indicatingthat an approval has already been made for the same original word orphrase and the different translation word and asking whether or notconsent should be given to the different translation word for theparticular client; in response to when a response information receivedfrom the particular client in response to the second notificationinformation including information indicating that the consent should notbe given to the different translation word, a first message generationstep of generating a first message for indicating, on a screen of theapprover client, the original word or phrase and the translation wordincluded in the translation word approval request information andindicating that this request is a re-request; and in response to thesame original word or phrase not existing in the approval requesthistory file in the search step, a second message generation step ofgenerating a second message for indicating, on the screen of theapprover client, the original word or phrase and the translation wordincluded in the translation word approval request information.

In order to solve the above problems, the server of a translationsupport system according to the present invention is a server of atranslation support system allowing communication between the server anda plurality of clients via a communication line.

The clients include a request-source client and an approver client, therequest-source client being operated by a translator of a request-sourcerequesting to an approver an approval of a translation word of aparticular original word or phrase and the approver client beingoperated by the approver.

The server includes a transfer unit configured to transfer translationword approval request information to the approver client, thetranslation word approval request information including at least theoriginal word or phrase received from the request-source client; anapproval request history storage unit configured to store approvalresult information at least including: approve-or-reject information inaccordance with the translation word approval request informationreceived from the approver client; and an approved translation word thatis a translation word corresponding to the original word or phrase; anotification storage unit configured to store notification messageinformation in accordance with the approve-or-reject information; anotification determination unit configured to determine, in accordancewith the approve-or-reject information, necessity of notification to theclient or clients other than the approver client and determine whichpiece of the notification message information stored in the storage unitshould be notified to each of the clients; and a notificationinformation generation unit for transmitting notification information,in accordance with the determination by the notification determinationunit, to the one or more clients for which notification or respectivenotifications have been determined to be necessary, the notificationinformation containing the notification message information, theoriginal word or phrase, and the approved translation word in accordancewith the client or clients for which the notification or the respectivenotifications have been determined to be necessary.

In order to solve the above problems, preferably, in the server of thetranslation support system according to the present invention, thetranslation word approval request information further includes acandidate translation word corresponding to the original word or phrase.

The server further includes a translation word comparison unitconfigured to compare the approved translation word with the candidatetranslation word.

The notification storage unit is configured to store a changenotification message, the change notification message being anotification message in accordance with a case where it has beendetermined by the translation word comparison unit that the approvedtranslation word and the candidate translation word are not in agreementwith each other.

The notification determination unit is configured to determine that themessage to be notified to the request-source client is the changenotification message when it has been determined by the translation wordcomparison unit that the approved translation word and the candidatetranslation word are not in agreement with each other.

In order to solve the above problems, preferably, in the server of thetranslation support system according to the present invention, thetranslation word approval request information further includes atranslation word candidate word or phrase corresponding to the originalword or phrase.

The notification storage unit is configured to store a changenotification message, the change notification message being anotification message in accordance with a case where it has beendetermined by the comparison unit that a translation word correspondingto the original word or phrase and the translation word candidate wordor phrase are not in agreement with each other.

The change notification message further includes display attributeinformation including at least one of information for specifying adisplay color of a character, information for specifying a backgroundcolor of a character portion, information for specifying a typeface ofcharacters, and information for specifying a type of a displayattribute.

The notification determination unit is configured to determine that themessage to be notified to the request-source client is the changenotification message when it has been determined that the translationword candidate word or phrase, a translation word in accordance with theoriginal word or phrase included in approval result information receivedfrom the approver client, and the translation word candidate word orphrase are not in agreement with each other as a result of comparisonthereof.

The notification information generation unit is configured to generatethe notification information that further includes the display attributeinformation or information for specifying the display attribute when thenotification determination unit has determined that the message to benotified to the request-source client is the change notificationmessage.

In order to solve the above problems, the server of the translationsupport system according to the present invention preferably includes anoriginal text storage unit configured to store an original text forwhich each translator is in charge of translation; an assignment rangestorage unit configured to store range information for specifying rangesof the original text for which each translator is in charge oftranslation; and an original text search unit configured to checkwhether or not the original word or phrase contained in the approvalresult information is contained in the original text within the rangefor which each translator is in charge of translation.

The notification determination unit is configured to determine that thenotification information should be notified to the client operated bythe corresponding translator in response to the original word or phraseincluded in the approval result information being contained in the rangeof the original text for which the translator is in charge oftranslation as a result of search by the original text search unit.

In order to solve the above problems, the server of the translationsupport system according to the present invention preferably includes anotification timing storage unit configured to store a desirednotification timing of each translator.

The notification information generation unit is configured to generatethe notification information in accordance with the notification timing,the notification information notifying the approval information to theclient operated by each translator.

In order to solve the above problems, the server of the presentinvention is a server a translation support system allowingcommunications via a communication line between a server and a pluralityof clients including a memory unit storing at least an original word orphrase contained in an original text as a translation target and atranslation word corresponding to the original word or phrase.

The server includes an individual registration information storage unitconfigured to store each piece of individual registration informationincluding at least the original word or phrase registered by each clientand the translation word corresponding to the original word or phrasereceived from the client; an original text storage unit configured tostore an original text to be translated by each client; a translatedtext storage unit configured to store a translated text received fromeach client; a corresponding original text search unit configured tosearch the original text storage unit to check whether or not anoriginal text containing a particular original word or phrase newlyindividually registered in the individual registration informationstorage unit exists in the original text storage unit and configured toidentify, in units of sentences, the original text containing the newlyindividually registered particular original word or phrase; acorresponding translated text search unit configured to search thetranslated text storage unit for a translated text corresponding to theidentified original text, check whether or not a translation wordcorresponding to the newly stored particular original word or phraseexists in the translated text corresponding to the identified originaltext, and store the identified original text and the translated textcorresponding thereto when the translation word corresponding to thetranslated text corresponding to the identified original text does notexist; an individual translation word search unit configured to searchthe individual registration information storage unit by using as a keythe newly individually registered particular original word or phrase,and search for all of individual translation words corresponding to thenewly individually registered particular original word or phrase; adifference/correspondence determination unit configured to determinecorrespondence or difference of a plurality of the individualtranslation words when there exists more than one individual translationword; and a display information generation unit configured to generateat least one of display information for indicating, on a display screenof a predetermined client among the clients, the newly registeredparticular original word or phrase and a plurality of differentindividual translation words corresponding to the newly registeredparticular original word or phrase, or display information forindicating the stored and identified original text and a translated textcorresponding thereto when the difference/correspondence determinationunit has determined that a different translation word exists in themultiple-existent individual translation words.

In order to solve the above problems, preferably, in the server of thetranslation support system according to the present invention, theindividual registration information further includes an original word orphrase registered by each client, a project ID for uniquely identifyinga translation project for each translation word corresponding to theoriginal word or phrase, and a translator ID for identifying thetranslator who registered the individual registration information in theclient.

The server includes: a translation word comparison unit configured tocompare the respective translation words with one standardizedtranslation word, the standardized translation word corresponding to theproject ID, the same original word or phrase and the original word orphrase, which are received from the predetermined client, the respectivetranslation words corresponding to the same original word or phrase andincluding the project ID received from each client and being stored inthe individual registration information storage unit; and a notificationinformation generation unit configured to generate notificationinformation for notifying, to the client having registered the approvedtranslation word and the different translation word, the standardizedtranslation word using the client ID along with the same original wordor phrase, the standardized translation word and the project ID when thetranslation word corresponding to the same original word or phraseregistered for each client is different from the standardizedtranslation word.

In order to solve the above problems, the server of the translationsupport system according to the present invention is a server of atranslation support system allowing communication between a server and aplurality of clients via a communication line.

The clients include a request-source client operated by a translator ofa request-source requesting to an approver an approval of a translationword of a particular original word or phrase and an approver clientoperated by the approver.

The server includes a transfer unit configured to transfer translationword approval request information to the approver client, thetranslation word approval request information including at least anoriginal word or phrase received from the request-source client; anapproval request history storage unit configured to store approvalresult information at least including: approve-or-reject informationcorresponding to the translation word approval request informationreceived from the approver client; and an approved translation word thatis a translation word corresponding to the original word or phrase; anotification storage unit configured to store notification messageinformation corresponding to the approve-or-reject information; anotification determination unit configured to determine, in accordancewith the approve-or-reject information, necessity of notification to theclients other than the approver client and determine which piece of thenotification message information stored in the storage unit should benotified to each of the clients; a display information generation unitconfigured to display a notification on a screen of the client for oneor more clients for which notification or respective notifications havebeen determined to be necessary in accordance with the determination ofthe determination unit, the notification including the notificationmessage information, the original word or phrase, and the approvedtranslation word in accordance with the client or clients for whichnotification or respective notifications have been determined to benecessary; an original text storage unit configured to store at least anoriginal text portion within an assignment range for which a translatoroperating the client is in charge of translation; and an original textsearch unit configured to check whether or not the original word orphrase included in the approval information is contained in the originaltext portion within the assignment range.

The display information generation unit is configured to generatedisplay attribute information of either one of the original word orphrase and the translation word such that the attribute information ofthe original word or phrase is different from that of the translationword, depending on a case where the original word or phrase of theapproval list information is contained in the original text portionwithin the assignment range and another case where the original word orphrase of the approval list information is not contained in theassignment original range as a result of the search by the search unit.

In order to solve the above problems, the server of the presentinvention preferably further includes an approval request historystorage unit configured to store at least the translation word approvalrequest information received from the client, an approved translationword, an approval flag indicative of eligibility for approval, and atime of approval indicative of a time at which the approval was made.

The display information generation unit is configured to generatedisplay information for displaying, on a screen of the client, anoriginal display window displaying an original text which should betranslated by an operator of the client using the original text withinthe assignment range and a translation display window displaying thetranslated text which is the result of nge and another case where theoriginal word or phrase of ceived operation information such that theoriginal and translation display windows are displayed on a single userinterface of the client.

The display information generation unit is further configured togenerate display information in accordance with the approval flag andthe time of approval, the display information displaying, on anotheruser interface of the client, at least one of an approved translationword display window displaying the translation word approval requestinformation that was approved at or prior to a predetermined time, anewly arrived approved translation word display window displaying thetranslation word approval request information that was approved past thepredetermined time period, a request-pending translation word displaywindow displaying the translation word approval request information thatis yet to be approved, and a rejected translation word display windowdisplaying the translation word approval request information that hasbeen rejected.

In order to solve the above problems, the server of the translationsupport system according to the present invention preferably includes anoperation information reception unit configured to receive operationinformation from the clients, the operation information including inputinformation that is input in the clients.

The display information generation unit is configured to generatedisplay information for displaying, on the screen of the client, anoriginal display window displaying an original text which should betranslated by an operator of the client using the original text withinthe assignment range and a translation display window displaying thetranslated text which is the result of translation of the original textin accordance with the received operation information.

The display information generation unit is further configured togenerate display information in accordance with the approval flag andthe time of approval, the display information displaying, on the screenof the client, at least one of an approved translation word displaywindow displaying the translation word approval request information thatwas approved at or prior to a predetermined time, a newly arrivedapproved translation word display window displaying the translation wordapproval request information that was approved past the predeterminedtime period, a request-pending translation word display windowdisplaying the translation word approval request information that is yetto be approved, and a rejected translation word display windowdisplaying the translation word approval request information that hasbeen rejected.

In order to solve the above problems, a control program of thetranslation support system according to the present invention is acontrol program of a server of a translation support system allowingcommunication between a server and a plurality of clients via acommunication line.

The control program is configured to cause the server to operate as: atransfer unit configured to transfer translation word approval requestinformation to a client operated by an approver, the translation wordapproval request information including at least an original word orphrase received from a client operated by a translator of arequest-source requesting to the approver an approval of a translationword of a particular original word or phrase; an approval requesthistory storage unit configured to store approval result information atleast including: approve-or-reject information corresponding to thetranslation word approval request information; and an approvedtranslation word in accordance with the original word or phrase receivedfrom the client operated by the approver; a notification storage unitconfigured to store notification message information corresponding tothe approve-or-reject information; a notification determination unitconfigured to determine, in accordance with the approve-or-rejectinformation, necessity of notification to a client or clients other thanthe client operated by the approver and determine which piece of thenotification message information stored in the notification storage unitshould be notified to each of the clients; and a notificationinformation generation unit configured to generate notificationinformation for transmitting notification, in accordance with thedetermination by the notification determination unit, to one or moreclients for which notification or respective notifications have beendetermined to be necessary, the notification information including thenotification message information in accordance with the client orclients for which the notification or the respective notifications havebeen determined to be necessary, the original word or phrase, and theapproved translation word in accordance with the original word orphrase.

In order to solve the above problems, a control method of the presentinvention is a control method of performing collective replacement of aprevious translation word in a translated text by a new translation wordin a translation support system.

The method includes a first search step of searching the translated textfor the previous translation word corresponding to a first original wordor phrase; a new translation word entry step of entering a newtranslation word by which the previous translation word should bechanged; a first attribute change step of changing a display attributeof the previous translation word within the translated textcorresponding to the first original word or phrase; a first replacementstep of replacing the previous translation word within the translatedtext by the new translation word while maintaining the displayattribute; a second attribute change step of changing a displayattribute of a second original word or phrase within the translatedtext; and a second replacement step of replacing the second originalword or phrase within the translated text by the previous translationword while maintaining the display attribute.

In order to solve the above problems, the control method of the presentinvention preferably includes a second search step of checking whetheror not the first original word or phrase exists in the translated text;and a third replacement step of replacing the first original word orphrase by the new translation word when the first original word orphrase exists and changing the display attribute of the new translationword to a predefined third display attribute.

The display attributes are changed by the first attribute modificationstep, the second attribute modification step, and the third replacementstep such that the display attributes are different from each other.

In order to solve the above problems, a control program of a replacementcontrol device of the present invention is a control program ofcollective replacement of a previous translation word within atranslated text by a new translation word in a translation supportsystem.

The control program is configured to cause the translation supportsystem to function as: a first search unit configured to search thetranslated text for the previous translation word corresponding to afirst original word or phrase; a new translation word entry unitconfigured to enter the new translation word by which the previoustranslation word should be changed; a first attribute change unitconfigured to change a display attribute of the previous translationword within the translated text corresponding to the first original wordor phrase; a first replacement unit configured to replace the previoustranslation word within the translated text by the new translation wordwhile maintaining the display attribute; a second attribute change unitconfigured to change a display attribute of a second original word orphrase within the translated text; and a second replacement unitconfigured to replace a second original word or phrase within thetranslated text by the previous translation word while maintaining thedisplay attribute.

In order to solve the above problems, a client of the translationsupport system according to the present invention is a client of atranslation support system allowing communications between a server anda plurality of clients via a communication line.

The client includes an original text storage unit configured to store atleast an original text portion within an assignment range for which atranslator operating the client is in charge of translation; an approvallist information generation unit configured to generate approval listinformation for displaying an approval list on a screen of the clientusing the approval information received from the server, the approvallist including at least an original word or phrase and a correspondingtranslation word; and a search unit configured to check whether or notthe original word or phrase included in the approval information iscontained in the original text portion within the assignment range.

The approval list information generation unit is configured to generatedisplay attribute information of either the original word or phrase orthe translation word such that the attribute information of at least oneof the original word or phrase and the translation word is differentfrom that of another of the original word or phrase and the translationword, depending on a case where the original word or phrase of theapproval list information is contained in the original text portionwithin the assignment range and another case where the original word orphrase of the approval list information is not contained in the originaltext portion within the assignment range based on the search unit.

In order to solve the above problems, a client of the translationsupport system according to the present invention is a client of atranslation support system allowing communications between a server anda plurality of clients via a communication line.

The client includes an original text storage unit configured to store atleast an original text portion within an assignment range of which atranslator operating the client is in charge; a translated text storageunit configured to store a translated text corresponding to the originaltext portion within the assignment range; an approval list informationgeneration unit configured to generate approval list informationincluding at least an original word or phrase and a translation wordcorresponding to the original word or phrase using the approvalinformation received from the server; an original text search unitconfigured to check whether or not the original word or phrase includedin the approval information is contained in the original text portionwithin the assignment range; a corresponding translated text search unitconfigured to extract preceding and subsequent original texts that areaway from an original word or phrase of the search hit location of theoriginal text portion within the assignment range by a predeterminednumber of characters or words and the original word or phrase in anoriginal order of the original text from the original text storage unitand configured to search the translated text storage unit for atranslated text portion corresponding to the extracted original textportion when the original word or phrase of the approval listinformation is included in the original text portion within theassignment range according to the search unit; a similaritydetermination unit configured to determine similarity of thepredetermined number of characters or words extracted from the originaltext; a classification unit configured to sort, using the determinationby the similarity determination unit, the original word or phrase of thesearch hit location of the original text portion within the assignmentrange and the original text portion containing a predetermined number ofpreceding and subsequent characters or words with respect to thisoriginal word or phrase, into groups formed by gathering similaroriginal text portions; and a bilingual screen display unit configuredto extract the original text portion corresponding to each row of eachpiece of approval information that has been sorted by the classificationunit and the translated text portion corresponding to this original textportion from the original text storage unit and the translated textstorage unit, configured to display the extracted original text and theextracted translated text on a display screen of the client such thatthe original text and the translated text are vertically or horizontallyarranged next to each other, and configured to display respective inputunits adapted to specify the allowability of updating on the basis ofthe approval list information.

In order to solve the above problems, a client of the translationsupport system according to the present invention is a client of atranslation support system allowing communications between a server anda plurality of clients via a communication line.

The client includes an original text storage unit configured to store atleast an original text portion within an assignment range of which atranslator operating the client is in charge; a translated text storageunit configured to store a translated text corresponding to the originaltext portion within the assignment range; an approval list informationgeneration unit configured to generate approval list informationincluding at least an original word or phrase and a translation wordcorresponding to the original word or phrase using the approvalinformation received from the server; an original text search unitconfigured to check whether or not the original word or phrase includedin the approval information is contained in the original text portionwithin the assignment range; a corresponding translated text search unitconfigured to extract preceding and subsequent original texts that areaway from an original word or phrase of the search hit location of theoriginal text portion within the assignment range by a predeterminednumber of characters or words and the original word or phrase in anoriginal order of the original text from the original text storage unitand configured to search the translated text storage unit for atranslated text portion corresponding to the extracted original textportion when the original word or phrase of the approval listinformation is included in the original text portion within theassignment range according to the search unit; a similaritydetermination unit configured to determine similarity of thepredetermined number of characters or words extracted from the originaltext; a classification unit configured to sort, using the determinationby the similarity determination unit, the original word or phrase of thesearch hit location of the original text portion within the assignmentrange and the original text portion containing a predetermined number ofpreceding and subsequent characters or words with respect to thisoriginal word or phrase, into groups formed by gathering similaroriginal text portions; and a bilingual screen display unit configuredto extract the original text portion corresponding to each row of eachpiece of approval information that has been sorted by the classificationunit and the translated text portion corresponding to this original textportion from the original text storage unit and the translated textstorage unit, configured to display the extracted original text and theextracted translated text on a display screen of the client such thatthe original text and the translated text are vertically or horizontallyarranged next to each other, and configured to display respective inputunits adapted to specify the allowability of updating on the basis ofthe approval list information.

In order to solve the above problems, the client of the translationsupport system according to the present invention preferably includes adetermination unit configured, in a translation operation fortranslating the original text portion within the assignment range into apredetermined language, to determine that a different translation wordhas been selected as a translation word for the particular original wordor phrase, the different translation word being different than theapproved translation word corresponding to the same original word orphrase of the approval information; and a caution information generationunit configured to generate caution information when the determinationunit has determined that the different translation word has beenselected, the different translation word being different than theapproved translation word corresponding to the same original word orphrase of the approval information, the caution information including atranslator ID identifying the operator of the other client or at leastone piece of other information identifying the other client, theoriginal word or phrase, the approved word or phrase, and the differenttranslation word, wherein the caution information is transmitted to atleast either one of the server and the approver client.

In order to solve the above problems, a control method of a client ofthe present invention is a control method for a client of a translationsupport system allowing communications between a server and a pluralityof clients via a communication line, the translation support systemincluding an original text storage unit configured to store at least anoriginal text portion within an assignment range for which a translatoroperating the client is in charge of translation.

The control method includes an approval list information generation stepof generating approval list information displayed on a screen of theclient, the approval list information including at least an originalword or phrase and a corresponding translation word using the approvalinformation received from the server; and a search step of checkingwhether or not the original word or phrase included in the approvalinformation is contained in the original text portion within theassignment range.

The approval list information generation step generates displayattribute information of either the original word or phrase or thetranslation word such that the attribute information of at least one ofthe original word or phrase and the translation word is different fromthat of the other of the original word and the translation word, basedon the search step, depending on a case where the original word orphrase of the approval list information is contained in the originaltext portion within the assignment range and another case where theoriginal word or phrase of the approval list information is notcontained in the original text portion within the assignment range.

In order to solve the above problems, a control program of thetranslation support system according to the present invention is acontrol program of a client of a translation support system allowingcommunications between a server and a plurality of clients via acommunication line.

The control program is configured to cause the client to operate as: anoriginal text storage unit configured to store at least an original textportion within an assignment range for which a translator operating theclient is in charge of translation; an approval list informationgeneration unit configured to generate approval list informationincluding at least an original word or phrase and a correspondingtranslation word using the approval information received from theserver; and a search unit configured to check whether or not theoriginal word or phrase included in the approval information iscontained in the original text portion within the assignment range.

The approval list information generation unit is configured to generatedisplay attribute information of either the original word or phrase orthe translation word such that the attribute information of at least oneof the original word or phrase and the translation word is differentfrom that of another of the original word or phrase and the translationword, based on the search unit, depending on a case where the originalword or phrase of the approval list information is contained in theoriginal text portion within the assignment range and another case wherethe original word or phrase of the approval list information is notcontained in the original text portion within the assignment range.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

In accordance with the server and the client of the translation supportsystem, the translation support system, and the program thereofaccording to the present invention, it is made possible to preventdecrease in the efficiency due to simultaneous operations by more thanone translator even in bulky quick-delivery translation projects, whichis an advantageous effect of the present invention. Also, it is madepossible to perform translation operations while preventing occurrenceof unstandardized translation words (which may also be calledinconsistent translation) due to simultaneous operations by more thanone translator.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system configuration of atranslation support system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of amanagement server 150 and individual clients of the translation supportsystem according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a first half of a functionalblock of the translation support system according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a second half of thefunctional block of the translation support system according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a general flowchart illustrating an embodiment of memory dataregistration processing and memory data collection processing for memorydata registered by the individual clients of the translation supportsystem according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the detailed flowchart of the localmemory registration processing of step S5042 of FIG. 5 of thetranslation support system according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a detailed flowchart illustrating details of unstandardizedtranslation word search processing and notification processing of thetranslation support system according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a standardized translation word entryuser interface in the details of the unstandardized translation wordsearch processing and notification processing of the translation supportsystem according to the present invention (step S722 of FIG. 7).

FIG. 9 is a detailed flowchart illustrating details of confirmationrequest processing (step S527 of FIG. 5) of the translation supportsystem according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a detailed flowchart illustrating details of collectivereplacement processing for translation words of the translation supportsystem according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating detailed flowchart of the processingin accordance with the operation of step S508/S1208 and step S530/S1226of a stand-alone type another embodiment of the translation supportsystem according to the present invention, where processing load isheavy on the client side in FIGS. 5 and 12.

FIG. 12 is a general flowchart illustrating an embodiment of memory dataapproval request processing and memory data update notificationprocessing input by the client of the translation support systemaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a detailed flowchart illustrating details of a case whereanother approval request is made again for the same original word orphrase of the translation support system according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a detailed flowchart of originaldisplay attribute update processing of step S1240 of FIG. 12 of thetranslation support system according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a detailed flowchart illustrating details of the local memoryupdate processing on the client side of the translation support systemaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a screen for displaying the approvallist information and performing memory update processing.

FIG. 17 is a detailed flowchart illustrating details of a modifiedembodiment of memory update processing of the translation support systemaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a screen juxtaposedly displayingoriginal text portions and translated text portions for memory updatingof the translation support system according to the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a detailed flowchart illustrating details of another modifiedembodiment of the memory update processing of the translation supportsystem according to the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a screen juxtaposedly displayingoriginal text portions and translated text portions that have beendivided into groups for memory updating of the translation supportsystem according to the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a detailed flowchart illustrating details of message boardupdate processing of the translation support system according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a screen of the translation supportsystem according to the present invention in a state where an originaldisplay window and a translation display/entry window are displayed nextto each other on a screen on the client side with display tabs of thememory displayed thereon, amongst which a “New Arrival” tab is selected.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating the screen on the client sidedisplaying the original display window and the translation display/entrywindow next to each other and arranging small windows at their left andright sides, the small windows indicating the content of individualmemory of the translation support system according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating a multi-window screen on the screen onthe client side of the translation support system according to thepresent invention. The figure illustrates the screen on which anoriginal display window and a translation display/entry window aredisplayed next to each other with small windows displayed at the leftand right sides, the small windows indicating the content of theindividual memory, where an edit screen and a memory display screen aredisplayed on multiple divided screens.

FIG. 25 is a detailed flowchart illustrating details of approvalnotification processing of the translation support system according tothe present invention.

FIG. 26 is a detailed flowchart illustrating details of reflection checkprocessing of the translation support system according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating a detailed flowchart of the processingin accordance with the operation of step S508/S1208 and step S530/S1226of the translation support system according to the present invention.

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating a detailed flowchart of the searchprocessing (S2726) of translation word candidates and the replacementprocessing (S2732) of the translation support system according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating internal processing of the translationsupport system according to the present invention at the time of theedit operation with the original window and the translation windowdisplayed.

FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating a detailed flowchart of the rangedesignation processing of S2707 of FIG. 27 of the translation supportsystem according to the present invention.

FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating a detailed flowchart of the searchprocessing of S2726 of FIG. 27 of the translation support systemaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating another modified embodiment of thesystem configuration of the translation support system according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 33 is a general flowchart illustrating the memory data registrationprocessing and memory data collection processing for memory dataregistered by individual clients in another embodiment (a case where aprimary checker also acts as the approver) of the translation supportsystem according to the present invention.

FIG. 34 is a general flowchart illustrating approval request processingfor memory data input by a client and memory update notificationprocessing in another embodiment (a case where the primary checker alsoacts as the approver) of the translation support system according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 35 is a diagram illustrating another modified embodiment of thesystem configuration of the translation support system according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 36 is a diagram illustrating another modified embodiment of thesystem configuration of the translation support system according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 37 is a diagram illustrating a modified embodiment of the detailedflowchart (FIG. 28) of the search processing and the replacementprocessing of the translation word candidate of the translation supportsystem according to the present invention.

FIG. 38 is a diagram illustrating the items of the memory and managementfiles of the translation support system according to the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Preferable embodiments of the present invention are described in detailbelow with reference to the drawings.

There are four main flowcharts of the present invention:

1) FIG. 5 is mainly associated with the illustration of approval requestprocessing when a primary checker himself/herself registers translationwords and detection processing of detecting inconsistent translationthrough collection of translation words of translators other than theprimary checker with regard to a case where a translation word for acertain original word or phrase is approved by an approver afterconfirmation by the primary checker also acting as a translator.2) FIG. 12 is mainly associated with the illustration of approvalprocessing for an approval request of a translation word by translatorsother than the primary checker with regard to a case where a translationword for a certain original word or phrase is decided by an approverafter confirmation by the primary checker.3) FIG. 33 is mainly associated with the illustration of processing whenthe approver himself/herself registers translation words, and detectionprocessing of detecting inconsistent translation through collectingtranslation words of the translators other than the approver with regardto a case where a translation word for a certain original word or phraseis approved by the approver also acting as a translator.4) FIG. 34 is mainly associated with the illustration of approvalprocessing for an approval request of a translation word by thetranslators other than the approver with regard to a case where atranslation word for a certain original word or phrase is approved bythe approver.

FIG. 1 is a diagram that illustrates the system configuration of thetranslation support system. A client A, a client B, and a client C inFIG. 1 each represent a translator but the number of the clientsoperated by translators is not limited to these three clients. Thenumber of clients operated by the translators may vary depending uponthe scale of translation projects, and clients in the order of severaldozens or even several hundreds may participate in a single project inthe case of a larger translation project, where the clients may furtherinclude a client D, a client E, . . . , and a client X.

(1) Each of client personal computers of the individual translators (forexample, the client A, the client B, and the client C), and a client Yoperated by the approver are connected via a network 100 such as a LANor the Internet to a management server 150 using software for clients(for example, dedicated application or browser for the clients)installed in these client personal computers. The clients read memoryinformation, application programs, and a translation file stored in acommon memory 151 of storage unit (for example, hard disk 28) of themanagement server 150. The memory information includes an original wordor phrase, a translation word, and a word class. The applicationprograms includes those illustrated by the flowcharts of thelater-described FIGS. 5 to 7 and FIGS. 9 to 15, FIG. 17, FIG. 19, FIG.21, FIGS. 25 to 31, FIGS. 33 to 34, and FIG. 37 (including screeninformation for displaying screens of application illustrated in FIG. 8,FIG. 16, FIG. 18, FIG. 20, and FIGS. 22 to 24 on a display screen of adisplay of each client). The translation file includes an original textand a translated text stored for one or more translation project files152. The clients update the translated text by translation operations.

The term “translation operation” as used herein refers to a task ortasks of using an original text described in a source language;repeatedly replacing words or phrases of the original text by words orphrases of a target language in units of words or phrases of theoriginal text; and creating a translated text described in a targetlanguage which has the closest meaning as possible to the meaning of theoriginal text. In this context, the common memory 151 is a memory unitcommonly used through the entire project and storing memory data thatare approved by the primary checker operating the client A and theapprover operating the client Y, the memory data including a project ID,an original word or phrase, a word class, and a translation word. Thetranslation words newly registered in the common memory 151 are notifiedto all of the translators (i.e., the client A, the client B, and theclient C), and each of the translators adds the translation word thathas been newly registered in the common memory 151 to the local memorydata of the client that this translator himself/herself operates. Theprimary checker performs primary check of an original word or phrase, aword class, and a translation word that have been requested by anothertranslator, and performs an operation with regard to whether or not therequest should be approved or rejected, or should be approved with entryof new translation word. In addition, for example, when translation wordsearch is necessary that requires time and involves investigationregarding the translation word that appeared for the first time in afield of advanced technology, the primary checker may request theapprover to perform the translation word search.

In this manner, by virtue of sharing by two persons of thetime-consuming approval operation and the translation word search, it ismade possible to perform the prompt approval processing as a whole.Also, the primary checker may indicate a plurality of candidates of atranslation word and request the approver to perform the translationword search. In particular, at the initial stage of the project, mainlyin order to fix the frequently appearing translation words, for example,with regard to part of the beginning section and the claim section, theprimary checker himself/herself is frequently involved in thetranslation operation. Further, as another embodiment, there may be acase where there is no primary checker while the approver and one ormore translators are involved. This embodiment may be adopted in a casewhere relatively small number of translators are involved and thedelivery period is not so stringent, or in a technical field wheretranslation words for the technical terms are widely established and theman hours of the translation word search is expected to be relativelysmall. Further, as required, in order to fix the translation wordscorresponding to important original words or phrases, there may be acase where the approver issues a request for an external third party toauthorize the translation word corresponding to the original word orphrase and based on the response from the external third party, theapprover decides the translation words. The processing associated withthis aspect will be explained in the context of the other embodiments.

(2) The management server 150 is configured to receive, for example, arequest of the client A, register the translation file(s) in a“repository” in the common memory 151 and a plurality of translationproject files 152, transmit the information from the repository to theclient A. The term “repository” as used herein refers to a stockroom fordata (the term “stockroom” is used here as a metaphorical expression ofa logical data management section) and is used to centrally managevarious kinds of information including translation files of particulartranslation projects. The translation project files 152 include theduration of the project, IDs of translators taking part in the project,an original file, a translation file, and various management files asillustrated in FIG. 38.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the hardware configuration ofthe management server 150, clients A to C, and a client Y. A CPU 21, aROM unit 22, a RAM unit 23, a video graphic adapter (VGA) 24, a LANadapter 25, a keyboard 26, a mouse 27, an HDD 28, and a DVD-ROM drive 29are connected to each other via a system bus 20 inside of each body. Itshould be noted that the same reference signs are assigned to the samehardware components within each body and for example, distinctions aremade by clarifying the subject using an expression “the CPU 21 of themanagement server 150” or the like. It should also be noted that anyinterface section may exist between any one of these components,individual constituent components, and the system bus 20 but such aninterface section is omitted in the figures. The CPU 21 controls theentire body of the management server 150 and the individual clients.Specifically, when started, the CPU 21 reads the boot program (bootloader) from the ROM unit 22; performs hardware check andinitialization; reads the system program from the HDD 28; loads thesystem program into the RAM unit 23; and thus starts the operatingsystem (OS). Further, the CPU 21 loads application programs from the HDD28 into the RAM unit 23 in accordance with the operation by the user andthus executes these application programs.

The ROM unit 22 is configured to store the boot program as mentionedabove, and the RAM unit 23, which serves as so-called main memory, isused by the operating system and the application programs, and used as awork area. The VGA 24 is an adapter configured to be connected to aliquid crystal display or a CRT display to provide screen display, andthe LAN adapter 25 provides wireless connection or LAN-cable connectionto an external network to perform transmission and reception of data.The keyboard 26 and the mouse 27 function as input units for inputtinguser's operations.

Also, the HDD 28 is configured to store various programs (the operatingsystem, the individual application programs for execution of theflowcharts of the present invention as illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 15,FIG. 17, FIG. 19, FIG. 21, FIGS. 25 to 31, FIGS. 33 to 34, and FIG. 37,and HTML screen information for displaying on the client screen asillustrated in FIG. 16, FIG. 18, FIG. 20, and FIGS. 22 to 24), varioustables, approval request history information (detailed information ofthe approval requests), and the like. The DVD-ROM drive 29 is a drivefor reading DVD-ROM and DVD-R discs storing various programs, and isalso capable of writing various data or the like in DVD-R discs. It mayalso be contemplated that the DVD-ROM drive 29 is a BD drive that canread and write data from/to a Blu-ray disc.

The operating system 34 (OS) such as Windows® is installed in a storageunit (for example, the hard disk 28 and a not-shown flash memory device)of the hardware (including firmware) of the personal computer of eachclient. Basic dictionary data which is a set of various dictionary filessuch as electronic dictionaries, bilingual glossaries, scientific andtechnological word dictionaries available from various companies arealso stored in the hard disk 28 along with a browser and individualprograms on the client side of the application programs. The basicdictionary data is stored in the hard disk 28 along with settinginformation given by each translator in accordance with the field of thetranslation original text, with priorities of search at the time ofdetermination of the translation words defined as appropriate.

In a normal state, the common memory 151 is in the first place in theranking. The local memory 115 including the original word or phrase andthe translation word thereof that each translator added on his/her ownaccount in is in the second place in the ranking. The basic dictionarydata is in the third or lower place in the ranking. Given this settinginformation, even when search is performed with the first-place commonmemory's original word or phrase, the second-place local memory issearched as long as the corresponding original word or phrase does notincluded in the first-place memory. When any hit resulted, thetranslation word is read into the work area of the RAM unit 23 alongwith the original word or phrase and used by the application programs.The basic dictionary data is used in the search for candidates of theword or phrase to be registered in the translation memory at the time ofthe translation operation, and also referred to in the course of searchto check whether or not the translation word corresponding to theoriginal word or phrase exists in the translated text.

Under the control of the CPU 21 of FIG. 2, at the time of start-up, forexample, reading and execution are performed from the main memory unitof the personal computer constituted by the RAM unit 23. The runtime 32is, as part of the application programs, read from a storage unit suchas the hard disk 28 onto the main memory unit such as the RAM unit 23and thus executed under the control of the CPU 21 as needed at the timeof execution. This is the end of the explanation of FIG. 2.

FIG. 38 is a diagram illustrating data items and exemplary data of thememory units and the management files used in the translation supportsystem according to the present invention. The local memory data can bedefined as my dictionary file used in the client operated by eachtranslator. As the data items for the dictionary, word classes such asnoun (n), verb (v), and adjective (a); original words or phrases;translation words corresponding to these original words or phrases; theregistration dates of the word class, the original word or phrase, andits translation word of the corresponding row of the memory data; thelatest dates of use, and classifications are stored in the local memory.As this local memory, the one that is designated at the beginning of theproject may be used. Meanwhile, it may also be possible to use a localmemory of the second place in the priority ranking which the translatorpersonally has been using and which is appropriate for the project ofthis time. In use, the time (hour, minute, and second) as well as year,month, and date are recorded as the date and time of use (in the exampledate of FIG. 38, year, month, and date are illustrated). An “L” isstored as the classification when the translator himself/herself hasperformed the registration while an “M” is stored when updating has beenperformed by downloading from the common memory.

Further, a project ID and a memory ID are included as data items formanagement. The project ID is a unique number assigned to eachtranslation project. The memory ID is a unique number for uniquelyidentifying the local memory unit used by each translator within theentire system. Each translator is allowed to have one or more localmemory units and use them independently. The local memory data is storedin the hard disk 28 of each translator and uploaded as appropriated tothe management server 150. Details will be later explained withreference to the flowchart.

Next, the common memory 151 of FIG. 38 is a memory unit commonly usedfor the entire project and approved by the approver. The translator IDof this approver is stored in the common memory 151. Specifically, theapprover, upon request from the other translators, confirms the originalword or phrase, the word class, and the translation word that have beensubjected to the primary check by the primary checker (to accept orreject) and performs operation for determining whether to make a finalapproval the request, reject the request, or make a final approval withmodification made to the translation word. Next, the management file 1)stores the project ID or IDs, the translator IDs of all of thetranslators taking part in the project except for the approver, a startpage, a start paragraph, a start sentence number, an end page, an endparagraph, and an end sentence number which indicate the beginning andthe end of the range of the original text of which each translator is incharge.

In place of this management file 1), the following may also becontemplated.

A) Methodology may be contemplated according to which: the original fileis split into a plurality of files of the same number as that of thetranslators; the file name thereof is given for example as “projectID_translator ID.doc;” and, in this manner, the file names as suchidentify the original text segments of which individual translators arerespectively in charge.B) Alternatively, another methodology may also be contemplated accordingto which: the original file is split into a plurality of files of thesame number as that of the translators; the file names of the splitoriginal files may be defined as appropriate, and a table associatingthe translator ID with this original file name is stored in the harddisk 28. The methodology is not limited to these approaches A) and B)and any approach may be adopted as long as it facilitates identificationof assignment ranges of the individual translators.

Next, the management file 2) stores the project ID or project IDs andtypes (indicating the types of the translators, where CT is assigned tothe primary checker, ET is assigned to an expert translator, and NT isassigned to a less experienced translator). Further, a translationcompletion page and a translation completion sections in terms of theoriginal text are estimated using the paragraph number and the number ofbytes of the translated text that is periodically uploaded to themanagement server 150. The progress rate (percentage) of the translationis calculated using the translation completion page and a translationcompletion line. The status (faster than the standard: AD, approximatelyequivalent to the standard: NM, and delayed relative to the standard:LT) is calculated and stored therein. The faster, equivalent, or delayedstatus is calculated based on the total volume to be translated and thetotal volume for which the translation has already been completed, forexample, with the standard case being assumed that, in a case of10-day-long translation project, the translation is completed in about60 percent (six days) of ten days, revision for each translator iscompleted in 20 percent (two days) of the same ten days, and theconsistency check for the entire translated text is performed in theremaining 20 percent of the total number of days. The management file 3)stores the project ID or IDs; the memory IDs; priorities given toindividual memory units; the source word indicative of the original wordin the original text; the target word indicative of the correspondingword (that corresponds to the original word) of the translated text;“Field” indicative of the technical field(s); start dates of respectivememories; and statuses indicative of being used (V) or unused (W).

Further, the other files of the management files are explained. Thesefiles are stored in the translation project file 152 of the managementserver 150 in groups of the project IDs.

(1) The file formats that can be processed by the translation supportsystem of this embodiment include, for example, MS-Word (doc) used byword-processing software of Microsoft Corporation, HTML used by variousbrowsers, and text, in addition to which Adobe Systems' PDF® (PortableDocument Format), Microsoft Corporation's XPF (XML Paper Specification)format, and another format, i.e., ODF (Open Document Format) can beused.

(2) A manuscript file read into translation assistance application ofthe translation support system of this embodiment can be stored in thetranslation project file 152 dedicated for this translation supportsystem. The translation project file 152 is constituted by a“translation file” retaining translation results including the originaltext and the translated text, “translation memory” retaining translationmemory data, and an “authentication file” for authentication.

(3) In addition, a log file that stores a translator ID and operationtime of the translator who performed the translation operation in thecourse of the translation; a header file that stores header informationof chapters, sections, and the like of the translated text; a historyfile that stores data resulting from registering new translation word inthe memory in the course of the translation operation, performingcollective replacement of a portion of the original text by translationword candidates that have been read from the memory, or performingnormal individual replacement of the portion of the original text; and atranslation comment file that stores translation comments entered in thecourse of the translation are stored (in the translation project file152) such that that they can be read as appropriate, displayed on thescreen, and/or printed out.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram that illustrates the functional blocks ofthe translation system according to the present invention. Some of the“units” of respective blocks correspond to the constituent features(“units”) of the scope of claims. Outline of the operations of therespective functional blocks is explained below. The broken linehorizontally extending at the central region of FIG. 3 represents thenetwork 100. In other words, exchange of information between themanagement server 150 and the client 340 for each translator (the clientB and the client C) and exchange of information between the managementserver 150 and the client 330 for the approver (the client A and theclient Y), unless otherwise indicated, all take place via the network100. Details are explained by the flowcharts and screens of FIG. 5 andthe other figures that follow.

First, the management server 150 receives request information from theclient 340 of each translator via an approval information reception unit321 of a transmission/reception control unit 320, the requestinformation including an original word or phrase and a candidatetranslation word corresponding to this original word or phrase. Themanagement server 150 stores the received request information in anapproval request history storage unit 351. The request information issent to a transfer unit 322 and transmitted from the transfer unit 322to the client A. Next, the management server 150 refers to the approvalrequest history storage unit 351 and an original text storage unit 352and performs search by a search unit 311 to check whether or not theoriginal word or phrase of the request information received this time iscontained in the translation assignment range, and delivers not only thesearch result but also a search result from an assignment range storageunit 353 to a notification determination unit 315. The notificationdetermination unit 315 reads appropriate notification content for thetranslator to be notified from a notification storage unit 355, deliversthe notification content to a notification information generation unit314, integrally taking into consideration whether or not a request hasalready been made with the same original word or phrase; whether or notthe original word or phrase of the request information of this time iscontained in a range of the original text for which each translator isin charge of translation; whether or not the approved translation wordagrees with the candidate translation word included in the requestinformation of this time; and whether or not another notification timingof each translator has arrived as identified with reference to anotification timing storage unit 356, and thus the search results aretransmitted from a notification information transmission unit 325 to thenotification-target client.

The content of the notification is displayed on the display screen (anindividual window or a display field of a tab) of each client whichreceived the notification. The content of the notification is either theapproval result information (approved on an as-is basis; approved with adifferent approved translation word; or rejected (not approved)) of theoriginal word or phrase and a candidate translation word correspondingto this original word or phrase, or includes a message (already approvedwith the same original word or phrase and the same approved translationword; already approved with the same original word or phrase but withdifferent approved translation word, etc.) for the approval request.

Also, when the client 340 for each translator registers an original wordor phrase and translation word corresponding to this original word orphrase in a local memory 940, the registration information including theoriginal word or phrase and the translation word corresponding to thisoriginal word or phrase is transmitted from a transmission/receptioncontrol unit 341 to the management server 150, and the registrationinformation including the original word or phrase and the translationword corresponding to this original word or phrase from the registrationinformation reception unit 324 of the management server 150 is stored asindividual registration information in an individual registrationinformation storage unit 354. In this manner, the individualregistration information storage unit 354 can be regarded as a unit thatstores in the management server 150 the data of the local memory 940 ofthe client operated by each translator as individual registrationinformation on a per-translator basis. It should be noted that the localmemory 940 as used herein generically represents the local memory unitsor data of the individual clients, where any one of the local memoryunits of individual clients will be identified by the reference signsappearing in FIG. 1.

The translation words stored in the individual registration informationstorage unit 354 is subjected to comparison by the determination unit312 by using the original word or phrase as a key. When a differenttranslation word has been registered by the translator with regard tothe same original word or phrase, then inconsistent translation warninginformation is generated by the display information generation unit 323,the inconsistent translation warning information including: thecorresponding original word or phrase; the respective translation words;and the translator ID. A transmission/reception control unit 320transmits the warning information to the client A110 and the warninginformation is displayed on a screen of the client A110, and, when thestandardized candidate translation word is entered, then the enteredstandardized candidate translation word and the original word or phraseare transmitted to the management server 150 and transferred to theclient Y190 operated by the approver. The management server 150receives, by the registration information reception unit 324, approvalinformation sent in reply from the client Y190, the approval informationincluding the standardized translation word. After that, the approvalinformation is added to the common memory 151 and the individualregistration information storage unit 354. Further, the translation wordcorresponding to the original word or phrase individually registered byeach translator and residing in the individual registration informationstorage unit 354 is searched for by using the original word or phrase ofthis approval information as a key. A translation word comparison unit313 compares the translation word with the standardized translation wordof the approval information corresponding to this original word orphrase. When they are not in agreement with each other, thennotification information is generated by the notification informationgeneration unit 314, the notification information including: theoriginal word or phrase individually registered; the individuallyregistered translation word that does not agree with the standardizedtranslation word; and the standardized translation word. Thenotification information is transmitted from the notificationtransmission unit 325 of the management server 150 to the clientoperated by the translator whose translation word does not agree withthe standardized translation word.

Meanwhile, the approval request information is stored via the approvalinformation reception unit 321 of the management server 150 in theapproval request history storage unit 351, the approval requestinformation including: an original word or phrase; a translation wordcorresponding to this original word or phrase added to the local memory940 (more specifically, the local memory 115) by the client A operatedby the primary checker. Further, this approval request information istransferred via the transfer unit 322 to the client Y operated by theapprover, and the registration information transmitted in reply from theclient Y to the management server 150, after having been received by anapproval result information reception unit 326, is stored via thenotification determination unit 315 in the common memory 151. In themeantime, the notification determination unit 315 determines that theword or phrase is a newly approved word or phrase, and the notificationinformation generation unit 314 generates new approval information. Thenew approval information is transmitted from the notificationinformation transmission unit 325 to the client for each translator.

When the client 340 for each translator receives the approvalinformation from the transmission/reception control unit 341, the client340 stores the received approval information in the work area of the RAMunit 23 and delivers the approval information to an approval listinformation generation unit 342. The approval list informationgeneration unit 342 generates display information for displayingapproval list information on the screen of the client 340 for eachtranslator and stores the display information in the work area of theRAM unit 23.

Also, a search unit 343 is configured to search an original text storageunit 361 by using as a key the original word or phrase included in thereceived approval information stored in the RAM unit 23; reads all ofthe original text portions at the hit locations in units of paragraphnumbers or sentences identified by the paragraph number and the sentencenumber; stores the original text portions in the work area of the RAMunit 23; and delivers the original text portions to an extraction unit344. The extraction unit 344 is configured to extract all of thetranslated text portions corresponding to the extracted original textportions on the basis of the paragraph numbers and the sentence numbersfrom a translated text storage unit 362, and store the translated textportions in the work area of the RAM unit 23. With regard to thelocations for which extraction in units of sentences was not successful,the entire paragraph is extracted and stored in the work area of the RAMunit 23, and the entire paragraph is delivered to a similaritydetermination unit 345. The similarity determination unit 345 isconfigured to determine correspondence or difference of the pairs of theextracted original text portion and the translated text portion (eachextracted in units of paragraphs or in units of sentences),respectively. Specifically, a predetermined word that precedes and/orfollows the original word or phrase (for example, two words) orpredetermined characters (for example, four characters) are subject tothe comparison, and the same group ID is assigned to the same words orphrases and they are stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 anddelivered to a classification unit 346.

The classification unit 346 is configured to sort the pairs of theoriginal word and the translation word by the group IDs, classify thepairs by the group IDs, and store the pairs in the work area of the RAMunit 23. A bilingual screen display unit 347 is configured to generatebilingual display information and display the bilingual displayinformation on the screen using the pairs of the original word and thetranslation word stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 and sortedin order of appearance within those having the same group ID and alsousing the approval list information, the bilingual display informationbeing constituted by: one original word or phrase of the approval listinformation; and a pair of the original word and the translation wordgrouped and sorted within the group corresponding thereto. It may alsobe contemplated that the determination of the correspondence ordifference of the preceding and succeeding words or phrases is notperformed and the preceding and succeeding words or phrases aredelivered from the corresponding translated text search unit 344 to abilingual screen display unit 347 via the work area of the RAM unit 23,by virtue of which the comparison display of the original text and thecorresponding translated text may be simply provided in units of theapproved original words or phrases in order of appearance.

Finally, the client Y330 stores the request information, which has beenreceived via a transmission/reception control unit 331, in the work areaof the RAM unit 23, delivers the request information to the requestinformation display unit 332, and displays on the screen the requestinformation including the original word or phrase and the candidatetranslation word(s). An approval entry unit 333 is configured to detectentry of approval/rejection entered on this screen or entry of theapproved translation word, and register the original word or phrase andthe approved translation word corresponding to this original word orphrase in the local memory 115. In addition, the approval entry unit 333is configured to store the entered input information in the work area ofthe RAM unit 23, and deliver the input information to an approvalinformation generation unit 334. The approval information generationunit 334 is configured to generate approval information to betransmitted to the management server, store the approval information inthe work area of the RAM unit 23, and deliver the approval informationto the transmission/reception control unit 331. Thetransmission/reception control unit 331 is configured to transmit theapproval information to the management server 150. The management serverreceives the approval information via the approval result informationreception unit 326 and registers the approval information in the commonmemory 151. In addition, the management server delivers the approvalinformation to the notification information generation unit 314.Approval notification information is generated and transmitted to theclients for the individual translators via the notification transmissionunit 325. This is the end of the summary explanation of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is explained below. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram similarto that of FIG. 3 and functions that cannot be depicted in FIG. 3 aredepicted in FIG. 4 as a separate figure. Each of the hardware componentsof the translator client 340, the approver client 330, and themanagement server 150 is identical with those depicted in FIG. 3. First,a determination unit 444 of the client 340 for the translator isconfigured to determine whether or not the translator client 340 hasselected the approved translation word in the course of selecting atranslation word for a certain original word or phrase during itstranslation operation. When it has been determined that the client 340selected any word other than the approved translation word, then acaution information generation unit 445 generates caution information.The caution information includes: at least one of the translator ID andother pieces of information identifying the other client; the originalword or phrase; the approved word or phrase; and the differenttranslation word. The caution information generation unit 445 isconfigured to transmit the generated caution information to themanagement server 150. The management server 150 receives this cautioninformation by the approval information reception unit 321 of FIG. 3,and transfers the caution information from the transfer unit 322 to theclient Y. Details of this processing are explained with reference toFIG. 28.

Next, a timing arrival determination unit 441 of the client 340 for thetranslator of FIG. 4 is configured to determine whether or notpredetermined confirmation timing has been reached. When it has beendetermined that the predetermined confirmation timing was reached and ithas been determined in the above new approval information determinationstep that new approval information exists, then a new approvalinformation determination unit 442 determines whether or not approvalinformation has been newly received. When it has been determined in theabove timing arrival determination unit 441 that the predeterminedconfirmation timing was reached and it has been determined by the abovenew approval information determination unit 442 that the new approvalinformation exists, then the original text search unit 343 performssearch to check whether or not the original word or phrase included inthe new approval information is contained in the original text portionwhich should be translated by the operator of the particular client. Atranslation word search unit 443 is configured to check whether or notthe approved translation word included in the new approval informationis included in a translation file in the translated text storage unit362 that has been translated by the operator of this translator client.When the original word or phrase is contained in the original textportion that the operator of this client should translate and theapproved translation word is not included in the translation file thathas been translated by the operator of the above particular client, thena report information generation unit 446 generates report informationincluding information indicative of the fact that the above approvedtranslation word is not included in the above translation file that hasbeen translated by the operator of the above particular client, and thereport information is transmitted via the management server 150 to theclient Y operated by the approver. Details of this processing will belater explained with reference to FIG. 26.

Next, in the management server 150, when a request history search unit421 receives translation word approval request information from theparticular client, searches the approval request history storage unit351 for the approval request history file using the original word orphrase and the requested translation word included in the searchedrequest history. As a result of the search by the request history searchunit 421, when the same original word or phrase and the same approvedtranslation word that is identical with the requested translation wordalready exist in the approval request history file, then firstnotification information is generated by a first notification generationunit 423 in the notification generation unit 422, the first notificationinformation indicating that an approval has already been made for theparticular client with the same original word or phrase and the sameapproved translation word, and this first notification information istransmitted to the particular client. Next, as a result of the search bythe request history search unit 421, when the same original word orphrase and a different translation word exist in the approval requesthistory file, then second notification information is generated by thesecond notification generation unit 424 in the notification generationunit 422, the second notification information indicating that anapproval has already been made for the particular client with the sameoriginal word or phrase but with the different translation word andasking whether or not a consent should be given to this differenttranslation word. The second notification information is transmitted tothe particular client to wait for a response which will be sent inreply. Next, when a response message received from the particular clientin response to this second notification information includes informationindicating that consent should not be given to this differenttranslation word, then third notification information is generated bythe third notification generation unit 425 in the notificationgeneration unit 422. The third notification information refers toinformation to be notified to the client Y190 operated by the approverfor notifying the original word or phrase and the translation wordincluded in the translation word approval request information andnotifying the fact that the request at issue is a re-request. The thirdnotification information is transmitted to the client Y330. Further, asa result of the search by the above request history search unit 421,when the same original word or phrase was not found in the aboveapproval request history file, then fourth notification information isgenerated by a fourth notification generation unit 426 in thenotification generation unit 422 and transmitted to the client Y330. Thefourth notification information refers to information to be notified tothe approver client Y330 for notifying the original word or phraseincluded in the translation word approval request information. Detailsof this processing are explained by the flowchart of FIG. 13.

The request history search for this approval request can also beexecuted by the client Y. The client Y may directly receive thetranslation word approval request information from the translator clientvia the transmission/reception control unit 331, or may in a similarmanner receive the translation word approval request information via themanagement server 150. The approval request history of the approvalrequests having the same project ID is searched for by the historysearch unit 431 by using as a key the original word or phrase and therequested translation word included in the received translation wordapproval request information. The search targets may be the approvalrequest history storage unit 351 of the management server 150 or mayalso be an approval request history file of a hard disk 28 of anot-shown client Y330. In accordance with the result of the search forthe approval request history, in the same or similar case result asexplained above, the first approval notification generation unit 432generates the first approval notification, and the second approvalnotification generation unit 433 generates the second approvalnotification, and the notification is transmitted directly to theparticular client that has made the request or via the management server150. In the case of a re-request, since the client Y is the approverclient, a first message is generated in place of the above-mentionedthird notification by the first message generation unit 434 anddisplayed on the screen of the client Y, the first message including: amessage to the effect that this request is a re-request; original wordor phrase; and the requested translation word, etc. In a similar manner,in a case of a new request, a second message is generated in place ofthe fourth notification by the second message generation unit 435 anddisplayed on the screen of the client Y, the second message including: amessage to the effect that this request is a new request; the originalword or phrase; and the requested translation word, etc.

Further, the management server 150 is also configured to perform searchprocessing to search for inconsistent translation, the outline of whichis explained below. When individual clients register original words orphrases, word classes, and corresponding translation words in theirrespective local memory units, these pieces of individual registrationinformation are transmitted as appropriate to the management server andstored in the individual registration information storage unit 351respectively storing individual registration information, the individualregistration information including at least an original word or phraseand the translation word corresponding to the original word or phraseindividually registered by each client, which has already beendescribed. The management server 150 also has an original text storageunit 352 adapted to store the original text portions which theindividual clients should translate and a translated text storage unit357 adapted to store the translated text portions received from theindividual clients. The frequency of transmissions of the individualregistration information may vary depending on frequency of connectionsto the network such as being always connected to the network and beingconnected only once a day. In an always-on connection environment, thefrequency of transmission may, for example, be once for every five toten minutes. When the frequency of connections is five times or less forone day, then the individual registration information will betransmitted every time a connection is made. The determination of thisfrequency of connections is performed by referring to the networkconnection logs.

A corresponding original text search unit 413 is configured to checkwhether or not the original text containing the particular original wordor phrase newly individually registered in the individual registrationinformation storage unit for a certain translator exists in the originaltext storage unit 352, where the original text all the translatorsincluding the other translators should translate is stored in thisoriginal text storage unit 352, and configured to identify the originaltext containing the newly individually registered particular originalword or phrase in units of sentences and store the identified originaltext in the work area of the RAM unit 23. Next, from the translated textstorage unit 357, the corresponding translated text search unit 411searches the translated text storage unit 357 for the translated textcorresponding to the identified original text, and performs search tocheck whether or not the approved translation word corresponding to thenewly stored particular original word or phrase exists in the translatedtext corresponding to the identified original text. When the approvedtranslation word does not exist that corresponds to the translated textcorresponding to the identified original text, then the correspondingtranslated text search unit 411 stores the identified original text andthe corresponding translated text in the work area of the RAM unit 23.

Next, an individual translation word search unit 414 is configured tosearch the individual registration information storage unit 354 using asa key the above newly individually registered particular original wordor phrase, and search for all of the individual translation wordscorresponding to the newly individually registered particular originalword or phrase and stores the individual translation words in the workarea of the RAM unit 23. Next, when there is more than one individualtranslation word, a difference/correspondence determination unit 412determines correspondence or difference of the individual translationwords. When the difference/correspondence determination unit 412 hasdetermined that any different translation word exists in or among theindividual translation words, a display information generation unit 427generates at least either one of display information for displaying, ona display screen of a predetermined client (the client Y operated by theapprover or the client A operated by the primary checker) among theclients, the newly registered particular original word or phrase and themore than one individual translation word corresponding to the newlyregistered particular original word or phrase; or display informationfor displaying the above stored identified original text and thetranslated text corresponding to this original text. Further,preferably, the management server 150 includes an operation informationreception unit 428 configured to receive operation information includinginput information that has been input in these clients from theindividual translator clients, and the approval request history storageunit 351 may be configured to store translation word approval requestinformation; an approved translation word; an approval flag indicativeof eligibility for approval; and the time of approval indicative of thetime at which the approval was made. In addition, the displayinformation generation unit 427 is configured to generate displayinformation for displaying, on the screen of the translator clientoperated by the translator, and using the above assignment rangeoriginal, an original display window in which the original text portionthat should be translated by the operator of the above client isdisplayed and a display window in which a translated text portion thatis the result of the translation operation of the original text portionin accordance with the above received operation information. Further,the display information generation unit 427 may generate displayinformation for displaying, on the screen of the approver client, atleast either one of: an approved translation word display window 2401 inFIG. 24 for displaying, in accordance with the approval flag and thetime of approval, the translation word approval request informationregarding the translation word approval request that were approved at orprior to a predetermined time; a newly arrived approved translation worddisplay window 2402 in FIG. 24 for displaying the translation wordapproval request information regarding the translation word approvalrequests that were approved at a time later than the predetermined time;a request-pending translation word display window 2403 in FIG. 24 fordisplaying the yet-to-be-approved translation word approval requestinformation; and a rejected translation word display window 2404 in FIG.24 for displaying the translation word approval request informationregarding the rejected translation word approval requests. This is theend of the explanation of FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of registration processing for memory data andcollection processing for the registered memory data. In the generalflowchart of FIG. 5, the primary checker who operates the client Ahimself/herself is also involved in the translation operation. In thefigure, the following processing procedures are illustrated: processingof making a request for approval to the client Y operated by theapprover so as to register the translation words in the common memory151 in the course of the translation operation; and processing ofnotifying the translation words that have been approved by the approverto the client B and the client C operated by the other translators whoare not the primary checker; and processing of notifying to the clientA, if any, an inconsistent translation found as a result of collectionof the translation words that are newly registered by these clients Band C in their respective local memory units. Meanwhile, the followingprocessing procedures are illustrated in the general flowchart of FIG.25, which will be later explained: a processing procedure of making arequest for approval to the client Y operated by the approver so as toregister the translation words in the common memory 151 when the clientsB and C operated by the other translators who are not the primarychecker are engaged in the translation operations; and a processingprocedure of notifying the approved translation word(s) by the approverto all of the translators. The discussion for the moment returns toexplanation of FIG. 5. Steps S501 to S512 of FIG. 5 are processingprocedures that are executed by the client A operated by the primarychecker; steps S521 to S532 are the processing procedures that areexecuted by the management server 150; steps S550 to S556 are processingprocedures executed by the client C and the client B, and steps S561 toS563 are processing procedures executed by the client Y operated by theapprover. These steps are the processing procedures that are executedunder the control of CPUs 21 of the respective hardwares. The sameapplies to the following flowcharts (the flowcharts of FIGS. 5 to 15,FIG. 17, FIG. 19, FIG. 21, FIGS. 25 to 31, FIGS. 33 to 34, and FIG. 37).

In the processing procedures of the flowcharts of FIG. 5 and the figuresthat follow, it is assumed, unless otherwise indicated as independentlyexecuted processing procedures, that connection to the management server150 (establishment of sessions) and login (authentication processing)are already completed. Also, it is assumed here that the respectiveprocessing procedures are executed according to a multi-process schemein the management server 150. In other words, the processing depicted inFIG. 5 and the processing depicted in FIG. 12 are executed as discreteprocesses, and within the same flowchart, the processing procedures maybe executed as discrete processing procedures. For example, in theprocessing of the client B of FIG. 12, steps S1201 to S1208 and stepsS1209 to S1212 constitute discrete processes with respect to each other,and in the processing of the client C, steps S1251 to S1253 and stepsS1241 to S1244 are also discrete processes with respect to each other.First, in step S501, the primary checker who operates the client Arequests the management server 150 to provide a user interface forregistration of memory data. In step S521, the management server 150transmits to the client A the screen information for displaying the userinterface for registration of memory data, makes the process proceed tostep S522, and enters a wait state to wait for information to bereceived from the client A. When the client A has received the screeninformation, the client A stores the screen information in the work areaof the RAM unit 23, and a not-shown first user interface (an entry fieldof the project ID, an entry field of the registration target memory ID,and an OK button) is displayed on the display of the client A. When theproject ID and the registration target memory ID have been entered andit has been detected and entered that the OK button was pressed, then atransition occurs to the next user interface. On the next userinterface, a not-shown registration user interface is displayed, theregistration user interface including an entry fields in which the wordclass, the original word or phrase, and the translation word are enteredand a registration button labelled by the characters of “Register.” Thecontent of the entry displayed on the user interface is all stored inthe work area of the RAM unit 23. When the mandatory entry items on thedisplayed user interface have all been entered, then a transmission flagof the work area of the RAM unit 23 is enabled that permits transmissionto the management server 150. When pressing of the registration buttonhas been detected, then the client A makes the process proceed to stepS502. In step S502, it is determined whether or not the transmissionflag is enabled. When the transmission flag is enabled, the client Amakes the process proceed to step S503. Meanwhile, when the transmissionflag is disabled or when a transition operation to make transition fromthe registration screen to another screen or menu has been detected,then the client A makes the process proceed to the step 505.

In step S503, the operation information is transmitted to the managementserver 150 and the client A makes the process proceed to step S504. Ifthe operation information is, for example, request information formemory data, then the operation information includes a project ID, amemory ID, a translator ID, a word class, an original word or phrase,and a candidate translation word. In step S504, it is determined whetheror not the operation information indicates a memory request operation onthe basis of the screen information stored in the work area of the RAMunit 23 and the content of the entry. When it has been determined thatthe operation information indicates the memory request operation, thenthe client A makes the process proceed to step S5042. When it has beendetermined that the operation information does not indicate the memoryrequest operation, then the client A makes the process proceed to stepS505. In step S5042, the word class, the original word or phrase, andthe translation word that have been entered are registered with theclassification=“L” in the default local memory designated in advance bythe project ID that was entered on the first user interface, and theclient A makes the process proceed to step S505. The processingprocedures of steps S505 to S512 of the client A and step S530 will beseparately explained later. Details of the processing procedure of stepS5042 will be explained later with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6.The following discussion now returns to the explanation of theprocessing procedures on the side of the management server 150.

The processing on the side of the management server 150 is explainedhereinbelow. When the management server 150, which is placed in the waitstate to wait for reception of information, has received the informationfrom the client A in step S522, then the management server 150 makes theprocess proceed to step S523 and determines whether or not the receivedinformation is the request information for memory data. When it has beendetermined that the received information is the request information formemory data, then the management server 150 makes the process proceed tostep S524. In step S524, the management server 150 transmits the memoryrequest information (the project ID, the memory ID, the word class, theoriginal word or phrase, and the candidate translation word(s)) to theclient Y operated by the approver. In step S561, when the client Y hasreceived the memory request information, the client Y stores thereceived memory request information in the work area of the RAM unit 23.When a dialog user interface on which an OK button and a cancel buttonare indicated along with the fact that the memory request informationhas been received has been received and it has been detected that the OKbutton has been pressed on the dialog user interface, then the client Ydisplays the memory approval entry user interface (a user interface fordisplaying memory update information, an Approve button, a Rejectbutton, an approved translation word entry field, a comment entry field,and a Save button) including the memory request information, and makesthe process proceed to step S562. In step S561, it may also becontemplated that the client Y, without displaying the dialog, displaysan icon indication or animation, which indicates that the memory requestinformation has been received, at a predetermined location such as theright corner of a task bar and detects an operation of selecting thisicon or animation, and displays the memory approval entry userinterface.

In step S562, the memory approval entry user interface is displayed.When it has been detected that the Save button was pressed in a statewhere a text is entered in the approved translation word entry field orin the approver comment entry field, an entry classification foridentifying the approved translation word or the approver comment andthe text that has been entered are stored in the work area of the RAMunit 23. When it has been detected that the Approve button or the Rejectbutton was pressed, then an approval flag in accordance with the buttonthat has been pressed is stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23. Instep S563, the memory approval information is transmitted to themanagement server 150, the memory approval information including atleast: the project ID; the approval flag; the original word or phrase;the word class; the candidate translation word(s); the approvedtranslation word; the entry classification for identifying modifiedapproved translation word and/or the approver comment (if they areentered in the translation word entry field and the comment entry field)(“1” if the approved translation word has been modified; “2” if theapprover comment has been entered; and “3” if both of them have beenentered); and the entered text, which are stored in the work area of theRAM unit 23.

In step S525, the management server 150 receives the memory approvalinformation, stores the memory approval information in the work area ofthe RAM unit 23, and makes the process proceed to step S526. In stepS526, the management server 150 refers to the work area of the RAM unit23 and determines whether or not the candidate translation word(s) ofthe memory approval information and the approved translation word are inagreement with each other. When it has been determined that they are inagreement with each other, then the management server 150 makes theprocess proceed to step S528. When it has been determined that they arenot in agreement with each other, the management server 150 makes theprocess proceed to step S527. In step S527, which is associated with anexceptional case where the client Y operated by the approver did notgive an approval to the memory update information of the primary checkerwith the candidate translation word, the confirmation requestinformation of the memory request content (the candidate translationword(s) and the approved translation word) of the client A istransmitted to the client A. The details of this processing will beexplained by the detailed flowchart of FIG. 9.

In step S528, the management server 150 transmits memory updateinformation (the project ID, the memory ID, the word class, the originalword or phrase, and the translation word) to the transmissiondestination(s) identified by each of the translator IDs and registeredunder the project ID of the management file 1) and makes the processproceed to step S529. In step S529, the management server 150 searchesfor the management file 1) by using the project ID and the translator IDas keys. When the type is CT, then the management server 150 registers,in the common memory illustrated in FIG. 3, the project ID, the memoryID, the translator ID, the word class, the original word or phrase, andthe translation word which have been received, and makes the processproceed to step S530. In step S530, the management server 150 executes aprocessing procedure in accordance with the operation on the client A,and makes the process go back to step S522. Details of step S530 will beexplained later.

Next, with regard to steps S550 to S556, the following processingprocedures are illustrated by way of example: processing procedures bythe client C reflecting the received memory update information to itsown local memory unit; and processing procedures by the client Ccollecting the memory data that have been classified and self-registeredin its own local memory unit and transmitting the collected memory datato the management server 150. In step S550, the client C stores thememory update information (the project ID, the memory ID, the wordclass, the original word or phrase, and the translation word) receivedfrom the management server in the work area of the RAM unit 23, andmakes the process proceed to step S551. In step S551, the client C readsa configuration file of the client C stored in the hard disk 28 into theRAM unit 23, and determines whether or not an automatic update flag isenabled. When the automatic update flag is enabled, then the client Cmakes the process proceed to step S553. When the automatic update flagis disabled, then the client C makes the process proceed to step S552.In step S552, the client C determines whether or not an update operationof the memory data was made (specifically, pressing of the Update buttonon the memory update user interface). When it has been determined thatthe update operation of the memory data was made, then the client Cmakes the process proceed to step S553. When it has been determined thatthe update operation of the memory data was not made, then the client Cmakes the process go back to step S550. In step S553, the client C usesthe received memory update information and updates the data of thedefault local memory having this project ID. When all of the memoryupdate information has been added to the local memory, the client Cmakes the process proceed to step S554.

In step S554, the client C searches this local memory unit. When any rowor rows are found having the classification of “L” and the registrationdate corresponding to the system date, then the client C stores theproject IDs, the translator IDs, the word classes, the original words orphrases, and the translation words in the work area of the RAM unit 23for all of the matching rows, and makes the process proceed to stepS555. It should be noted here that prior to execution of step S554, therows having the classification of “L” are added in advance in the localmemory of the client operated by himself/herself through the operationby the client C registering the original word or phrase and thetranslation word corresponding to this original word or phrase in thecourse of his/her translation operation. In step S555, when there is anyrow whose classification is “L” and whose registration date correspondsto the earliest of either the date on or after the system date or thedate on or after the date on which the client C made the most recentaccess to the network 100, then the client C makes the process proceedto step S556. If not, then the client C makes the process go back tostep S550. In step S556, the client C transmits the project ID, thetranslator ID, the word class, the original word or phrase, and thetranslation word stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 to themanagement server 150, and makes the process go back to step S550.

In step S531, the management server 150 receives the memory informationcorresponding to the self-registration data and stores this memoryinformation in the work area of the RAM unit 23. When the translator IDindicates the primary checker who transmitted the self-registrationmemory data, then the management server 150 transfers the receivedmemory information to the client Y, registers (newly registers orupdates) the memory information in the common memory 151 upon approvalby the client Y, and makes the process proceed to step S532. When thetranslator ID does not indicate the primary checker, then the managementserver 150 does not perform the registration in the common memory 151and makes the process proceed to step S532. In step S532, the managementserver 150 performs search to check whether or not the same originalword or phrase exists in the individual registration information of thememory data of the other translators in the individual registrationinformation storage unit 354, or the same original word or phrasealready exists in the original text portions that is already translated.The management server 150 further determines whether or not thecorresponding translation words of the translated text are in agreementwith the translation word of the memory information of theself-registration data that is received this time. When they are not inagreement with each other, then the management server 150 notifies theprimary checker or the approver. Details of the processing procedure ofthis step are separately explained with reference to the detailedflowchart illustrated in FIG. 7.

In step S509, inconsistent translation information is notified to theclient A operated by the primary checker. Finally, the processingprocedures of steps S505 to S512 and step S530 are explained. In stepS505, it is determined whether or not the operation that has beendetected is an end operation (for example, a case where pressing of a“X” button appearing in the upper right section of the user interface,selection of the “End” menu, or pressing of an “End” button has beendetected). When the detected operation is the end operation, then themanagement server 150 makes the process proceed to step S506. In stepS506, the client A closes opened files, saves yet-to-be-saved files, orperforms relevant operations and thus ends the processing. When thedetected operation is not the end operation, then the client A makes theprocess proceed to step S507. In step S507, the client A determineswhether or not any operation other than the above memory registrationoperation and the end operation has been detected. When an operationother than the memory registration operation and the end operation hasbeen detected, then the client A makes the process proceed to step S508.If not, the client A makes the process proceed to step S509.

In step S508, the client A executes the processing in accordance withthe other operations and makes the process proceed to step S509. Theother operations as used herein refer to operations for proceeding withthe translation operations by the translation support system such asrange designation operation for defining the translation word or phrase;a search operation for searching memory; a selection operation forselecting a desired translation word from among translation wordpublications obtained as a result of the search; and a file savingoperation. Details of the processing procedure of step S508 and detailsof the processing procedure of step S530, which is associated therewithand pertains to processing by the management server 150 are separatelyexplained with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 27.

Next, in step S509, it is determined whether or not the notificationinformation has been received from the management server 150. When ithas been determined that the notification information was received, thenthe client A stores the received notification information in the workarea of the RAM unit 23 and makes the process proceed to step S510. Instep S510, the processing branches depending on the content of thereceived notification. When the word class in the notification contentis “noun” and the translation word is not in agreement, or when the wordclass is “verb” and three or more inconsistent translation words arecontained for the same original word or phrase, then the client Adetermines that it is necessary to provide display thereof, and makesthe process proceed to step S511. When the word class is “verb” andthere are two inconsistent translation words, then the client A makesthe process proceed to step S512. In step S511, an icon is displayed onthe screen of the client A, and the client A makes the process proceedto step S512. In step S512, the client A adds the notificationinformation received this time to the notification log of the hard disk28. This is the end of the explanation of FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the detailed flowchart of the newregistration processing for new registration in the local memory of eachclient in a TME mode (i.e., step S5042 of FIG. 5). The processingprocedures of FIG. 6 are those that are executed under the control ofthe CPU 21 of the client A and the CPI 21 of the management server 150.The TME mode as used herein refers to a mode in which a translation wordcorresponding to the term (i.e., an original word) of an original textis selected, the selected translation word is registered, and the wordor phrase of the original text (for example, part of a word, word, orphrase) is replaced by the selected translation word. When a certainterm or word or phrase of the original text is replaced by a translationword, then the same term or word or phrase that subsequently appears isalso replaced by the translation word in the similar manner. Meanwhile,this does not mean that collective replacement for the entire documentis not performed including the same preceding term or word or phrase,and accordingly it is also possible to replace an original word byanother translation word at any intermediate location of the document.It is also possible to perform individual replacement in a mode otherthan the TME mode. In step S601, when an operation to select anycharacter within a particular range has been detected on the side of theclient A, then the client A stores, in the work area of the RAM unit 23,the operation information indicating that the character within theselected range and the character within the particular range wereselected, and makes the process proceed to step S602.

In step S602, when pressing of a space key has been detected on the sideof the client A, the operation information stored in the work area ofthe RAM unit 23 is transmitted to the management server 150 and themanagement server 150 makes the process proceed to step S603. In stepS603, the local memory 115 is subjected to memory search by using thecharacters within the selected range received by the management server150 as a key, and the client A makes the process proceed to step S604.In step S604, the search result is stored, as a cache item for thetranslation word candidate, in a memory cache 945 of the work area ofthe RAM unit 23, and the client A makes the process proceed to stepS605.

In step S605, the client A sorts the cache items stored in the memorycache 945 by the order of: date of use>date of update>frequency of use,and makes the process proceed to step S606. In step S606, when pressingof the Space key has been detected, the client A displays the sortedcache items in the form of a drop-down list, and makes the processproceed to step S607. Specifically, addition to the local memory in theTME mode is performed via the drop-down list that appears when the spacekey is pressed. In step S607, pressing of the Enter key has beendetected, the client A makes the process proceed to step S608. When theclient A has performed new registration of the translation word in thelocal memory, the management server 150 receives the registeredtranslation word (step S522) in accordance with the processing procedureillustrated in FIG. 5 (step S504), transfers the registered translationword to the client Y (step S524), and thus the approval processing bythe client Y is executed. Meanwhile, when any translator other than theclient A has performed new registration of a translation word in thelocal memory, the registered translation word is transmitted as theself-registration memory data illustrated in FIG. 5 to the managementserver 150 (step S556).

In step S608, the client A displays a window for new registration andwaits for entry of the content of the registration. When characters havebeen entered and pressing of the Enter key has been detected, theprocess proceeds to step S609. In step S609, the registered translationword is saved in the local memory 940 as the one having the latest dateof use and the latest date of update, and the registration result isreflected to the display screen of the TME mode (the display is updatedwith the entered characters). Subsequently, the client A makes theprocess proceed to step S610. In step S610, when pressing of the Enterkey has been detected again, then the client A returns to the originalTME mode and ends the processing. The newly registered term (translationword) is displayed at the highest place in the drop-down list untilanother translation word is registered for the same original word oruntil another translation word is selected. This is the end of theexplanation of FIG. 6.

Next, FIG. 7 is a detailed flowchart illustrating the details of theunstandardized translation word search processing and notificationprocessing (step S532 of FIG. 5). In the FIG. 7, the processingprocedures of steps S701 to S714 are those that are executed under thecontrol of the CPU 21 of the management server 150, and the processingprocedures of steps S721 to S723 are those that are executed under thecontrol of the CPU 21 of the client A, and the processing procedures ofsteps S741 to S743 are those that are executed under the control of theCPU 21 of the client Y. In step S701, the management server 150 storesthe translator ID, the project ID, the original word or phrase, and thetranslation word included in the newly individually registeredindividual registration information in the work area of the RAM unit 23and makes the process proceed to step S702.

In step S702 (corresponding original search), the original text portionsof the original text storage unit 352 of all of the translatorparticipating in this project including the translator who performed theregistration is searched for by using as a key the newly individuallyregistered original word or phrase, which was stored in the work area ofthe RAM unit 23 in step S701, and the paragraph number, the sentencenumber, the original word or phrase at the hit location, an inconsistenttranslation flag (disabled by default), and a failure flag (disabled bydefault) are output as the search result to an inconsistent translationwork file stored in the hard disk 28.

In step S703 (corresponding translation search), the management server150 uses the paragraph number of the work file and the sentence numberof this paragraph number, and searches translated text storage unit 357for all of the translated text portions of all of the translatorsparticipating in this project by using as a key the translation wordstored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 in step S701 andcorresponding to the original word or phrase. It is contemplated as apremise that the paragraph numbers are respectively included in both ofthe original text and the translated text and that, in a certainparagraph, for example, a paragraph of the translated text correspondingto the paragraph number of the paragraph 0011 of the original text, aparagraph number of the paragraph 0011 is included. When the number ofsentences of the original text in a certain paragraph in the originaltext (the maximum value of the sentence number) and the correspondingnumber of sentences of the translated text in the paragraph do not agreewith each other, sentence numbers, for example, plus/minus one withrespect to the sentence number at issue are also searched for. At thispoint, checking is done on a per-sentence-number basis with, forexample, in the case of English-to-Japanese translation, about a half ofthe number of characters of one sentence in Japanese being regarded asthe corresponding number of words in English. Specifically, for example,the number of words in English is multiplied empirically by two and theobtained number plus/minus 20% of the error range thereof is regarded asthe corresponding number of characters of Japanese sentences in the sameparagraph number. Within this error range (1.6 to 2.4), it is determinedthat no division of sentences occurred. If no corresponding translationis found with the sentence number of the translated text correspondingto the original text even when occurrence of the division of anysentence is taken into account, then the inconsistent translation flagis enabled for that location (in units of sentences) and thecorresponding original and translated texts are stored in the work areaof the RAM unit 23.

Out of this range, if the number of characters of the Japanese sentenceswhich pertain to the translated text is less than the minimum value, itis determined that there occurred division of sentences. When the numberof characters of the Japanese sentences which pertain to the translatedtext is larger than the maximum value, it is determined that there wasmerging of translated text portions. When the character data of thetranslated text portion corresponding to a certain paragraph of theoriginal text is zero, then it is determined that the original textportion is yet to be translated, and the inconsistent translation flagis disabled for all the sentences with this paragraph number, and thefailure flag is enabled. Even when the corresponding translation wordhas been found, it may happen that the determination of presence/absenceof the corresponding translation word fails due to a large differencebetween the number of the original text and the number of the translatedtext or the like. If failed, the failure flag is enabled. When thefailure flag is disabled and the inconsistent translation flag isenabled, this indicates that inconsistent translation of the translationwords with respect to the same original word or phrase likely to existwithin the translated text that this translator is creating.

In step S704 (individual translation word search), the management server150 searches for self-registration memory data of other translators andthe corresponding translation word of the common memory 151 by using asa key the original word or phrase of the self-registration memory datastored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 in step S701, and stores, inthe work area of the RAM unit 23, the translator ID, the memory ID, theoriginal word or phrase, the word class, and the translation word of allof the hit memory data as well as the project ID in the work area of theRAM unit 23 and makes the process proceed to step S705. In step S705,the management server 150 performs comparison to ascertaincorrespondence or difference between the translation word of theself-registration memory data with the translation words of the othertranslators stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 and thetranslation words of the common memory 151. When it has been determinedthat the translation words are in agreement with the self-registrationdata of all the translators, then the process is ended. When it has beendetermined that the translation words are not in agreement with theself-registration data of at least one translator, or when there is anytranslated text portion for which inconsistent translation flag isenabled in the inconsistent translation work file stored in the harddisk 28, the management server 150 makes the process proceed to stepS706.

In step S706, the management server 150 generates notificationinformation 1) to the primary checker regarding the original word orphrase for which the translation word is not in agreement (the projectID, the original word or phrase, the word class, the translator ID, therespective translation words, and the respective memory IDs of thattranslator, or alternatively, in a case where there is any translatedtext for which the inconsistent translation flag is enabled, the projectID including the translated text for which the inconsistent translationflag is enabled, all of the corresponding translator IDs, all of theparagraph numbers corresponding to the translator IDs for which theinconsistent translation flag is enabled, and the translated textcorresponding to the original text) using: the inconsistent translationinformation regarding the inconstant translation information in thetranslated text which is stored in the inconsistent translation workfile in step S703 and for which the inconsistent translation flag isenabled; and the inconsistent translation information of the translationword of the memory data stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 instep S704. The management server 150 stores the notificationinformation 1) in the work area of the RAM unit 23 and makes the processproceed to step S707. In step S707, the management server 150 transmitsthe notification information 1) stored in the work area of the RAM unit23 to the client A operated by the primary checker, and makes theprocess proceed to step S708 and enters in a wait state for reception ofa response from the client A.

In step S721, the client A receives the notification information 1) andstores the notification information 1) in the work area of the RAM unit23. An animation or an icon is displayed on the display of the client A,the animation or the icon indicating that the notificationinformation 1) notifying a non-standardized translation word has beenreceived. When the primary checker selects this animation or icon (forexample, clicking by the left button of the mouse), the client A makesthe process proceed to step S722. The non-standardized translation wordnotification and the standardized translation word entry user interface800 illustrated in FIG. 8 are displayed on the display. Anon-standardized translation word notification window 810 is displayedat an upper portion of this user interface. In this non-standardizedtranslation word notification and the standardized translation wordentry user interface 800, the same inconsistent translation locationsexceeding a predetermined number are displayed on different pages. Forexample, it may be contemplated that the location of the firstappearance of the inconsistent translation is displayed on the firstpage 1 while the same inconsistent translations are displayed on page 2and the pages that follows.

On the non-standardized translation word notification window 810, acheck field, an original word or phrase, a translation word, atranslator ID, and an original display button are displayed in thisorder from the left to the right. The primary checker confirms theoriginal word or phrase and the translation word and enters a check mark“✓” in the check field of the row in which the translation word to beadopted appears. In FIG. 8, it is indicated on the non-standardizedtranslation word notification window 810 that the translator having thetranslator ID 786 uses “a kind of mental disease” for the original wordor phrase “seishinbyou-no isshu” and the translator having thetranslator ID 777 uses “one of mental diseases,” and the translatorhaving the translator ID 751 uses “a mental disease.” By pressing the“Original” button 811 on this user interface, the original filecorresponding to a translation assignment range table of the translatorID 786 is searched for by using the original word or phrase as a key,and the sentence or passage is identified by periods or punctuationmarks with the sentence or passage at the first hit location being thecenter, and about three sentences or three passages at and on both sidesof the hit location are stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23, andthe original text portion at the first location including the originalword or phrase within the original range for which the translator havingthe translator ID 786 is in charge of translation is displayed in theoriginal display window 820 at the intermediate column in the userinterface. By virtue of this, confirmation of eligibility of thetranslation words of each translator is facilitated. Also, when morethan one notification is to be viewed, another piece of notificationinformation can be displayed in a non-standardized translation wordnotification window 810 by pressing a Prev Page button 833 or a NextPage button 834. A translation word new entry window 830 is displayedbelow the original display window 820, and a new translation word can beregistered by pressing a new entry button 835 after having entered thenew translation word in this translation word new entry window 830.

When an Approve button 832 is pressed after the primary checker havingentered the check “✓,” the translation word “a kind of mental disease”of this row is approved as the standardized candidate translation wordcorresponding to the original word or phrase “seishinbyou-no isshu,” andthe information indicating that the primary check has been made isstored in the work area of the RAM unit 23. The client A makes theprocess proceed to step S723 and transmits the notificationinformation 1) including the project ID, the original word or phrase,the word class, etc. to the management server 150 along with theapproved standardized candidate translation word. It should be notedhere that, when checks “✓” are entered for more than one translationword, this means that primary check is made to the fact that both of thetranslation words are to be properly used (translated as two distinctwords), and accordingly that two terms are included as the standardizedcandidate translation words.

In step S708, the management server 150 stores the received informationin the work area of the RAM unit 23 and makes the process proceed tostep S709. In step S709, the management server 150 transfers theinformation stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 to the client Y,makes the process proceed to step S710, and enters the wait state forreception of a response from the client Y. The actor that executes stepsS741 to S743 is the client Y. Details of these steps are omitted, for itonly differs from the above steps in that the standardized translationword candidate received from the management server 150 is approved andtransmitted as the standardized translation word to the server alongwith the notification information 1). The management server 150 storesthe notification information 1) and the standardized translation wordreceived in step S710 in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes theprocess proceed to step S711. In step S711, management server 150executes the corresponding translation word search similar to that ofstep S703 by using as keys the original word or phrase and thestandardized translation word. The management server 150 extracts thetranslation words for each translator participating in this project andthe paragraph number and the sentence number of the paragraph, in whichthe translation word appears, of the original text, in which theoriginal word or phrase exists, and then makes the process proceed tostep S712. In step S712, the extracted translation word is compared withthe standardized translation word and it is determined that bothtranslation words are in agreement with each other. When appropriate useof more than one translation word is permitted (a case where there ismore than one standardized translation word), it is determined that thetranslation word is in agreement with the standardized translation wordas long as the translation word agrees with either one of thestandardized translation words.

When the translation word is not in agreement with the standardizedtranslation word, the management server 150 makes the process proceed tostep S713. When the translation word is in agreement with thestandardized translation word, then the management server 150 makes theprocess proceed to step S714. In step S713, the management server 150transmits notification information 2) to another client operated by thetranslator with the translator ID whose translation word is not inagreement with the standardized translation word, using the informationstored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 in step S707, and, theinformation received in step S710 and stored in the work area of the RAMunit 23, the notification information 2) being for use in confirmationof the translation word. The management server 150 sets the transmissionflag corresponding to the translator ID of the translator whotransmitted the notification information 2), the transmission flag beingenabled with the transmission log containing the translator ID stored inadvance in the work area of the RAM unit 23 and the transmission flag.The notification information 2) includes the project ID, the originalword or phrase, the standardized translation word, the original textportion of the other translator corresponding to the standardizedtranslation word, and the paragraph number and the sentence number ofthe original text portion including the location at which the originalword or phrase appears for the first time in the translation assignmentrange for each notification-destination translator.

In step S731, another client receives the notification information 2)and stores the received notification information 2) in the work area ofthe RAM unit 23, and the icon or animation notifying the reception ofthe notification information 2) is displayed on the screen. When thisicon or animation has been selected, the management server 150 makes theprocess proceed to step S732, and the content of the notificationinformation 2) and a message requesting confirmation (for example, forthe project ID=xxxxx: You use the translation word “one of mentaldisease” for the original word or phrase “seishinbyou-no isshu.” You arenotified that the approver approved the translation word “a kind ofmental disease.” Please check the original text and the translated textfor the relevant first-appearing location (the y-th sentence in theparagraph 00XX).) are displayed on the screen. It will be appreciatedthat the content of the notification information 2) may be displayed inthe form of a list listing multiple notifications (a display form whichprovides a list of the inconsistent translation locations).

In step S714, the management server 150 determines whether or not thetranslation word match determination of step S712 has been completed forall of the translators on the basis of the transmission flag of thetransmission log in the work area of the RAM unit 23. When thetransmission flag is enabled for all of the translator IDs, themanagement server 150 ends the process. When there is a translator ID inthe transmission log for which the transmission flag is not enabled,then the management server 150 makes the process proceed to step S711.By virtue of such processing, it is made possible for primary checkerand the approver to confirm the inconsistent translation even when anapproval request of the translation word is not made, and thus it ismade possible to notify the standardized translation word to thetranslator(s) using any word other than the approved translation word todraw their attention. It should be noted here that, as a modifiedembodiment (another embodiment), the processing of notifying thestandardized translation word as the approved translation word in thesame or similar manner as the processing illustrated in FIG. 12 (seestep S1232); the processing of displaying the standardized translationword on the screen of FIGS. 16, 18, and 20; and the processing ofupdating the local memory also pertains to the present invention. Thisis the end of the explanation of FIG. 7.

Next, the flowchart of FIG. 9 is explained. FIG. 9 is a detailedflowchart illustrating the details of the confirmation requestprocessing of step S527 of FIG. 5 (processing in the case where thecandidate translation word of the primary checker and the approvedtranslation word of the approver do not agree with each other). In FIG.9, steps S921 to S926 are associated with the processing procedures thatare executed under the control of the CPU 21 of the management server150; steps S901 to S903 are associated with the processing proceduresthat are executed under the control of the CPU 21 of the client Aoperated by the primary checker; and steps S961 to S963 are associatedwith the processing procedures that are executed under the control ofthe CPU 21 of the client Y operated by the approver. First, in stepS921, the management server 150 generates confirmation requestinformation to be transmitted to the client A (including a messageindicating that the candidate translation word has been revised by theapprover; a message requesting confirmation of the content; the projectID, the original word or phrase, the word class, the approvedtranslation word, the candidate translation word, and the approvercomment) using the memory approval information stored in the work areaof the RAM unit 23 (see the explanation of step S562 of FIG. 5). Themanagement server 150 stores the confirmation request information in thework area of the RAM unit 23 and makes the process proceed to step S922.In step S922, the management server 150 transmits the confirmationrequest information stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 to theclient A, and makes the process proceed to step S923.

The processing on the side of the client A is explained here. In stepS901, the client A receives the confirmation request information, storesit in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes the process proceed tostep S902. In step S902, the client A uses the confirmation requestinformation stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 and displays anicon indication or animation indicating that the confirmationinformation has been received on a predetermined position, for example,the right corner of the task bar or the like. And the client A detectsan operation selecting this icon or animation and displays a not-shownprimary checker comment entry user interface (a user interface fordisplaying a message indicating that the candidate translation word wasrevised by the approver; message requesting confirmation of the content;the project ID, the original word or phrase, the word class, theapproved translation word, the candidate translation word, the commententry fields for the approver's comment and primary checker's comment;and an OK button). When pressing of the OK button has been detected, theclient A makes the process proceed to step S903. In step S903, theclient A transmits a primary checker comment to the management server,the primary checker comment including the project ID, the original wordor phrase, the word class, the approved translation word, the candidatetranslation word, and a comment entered by the primary checker.

The following discussions are directed to the explanation of themanagement server 150 again. In step S923, the management server 150adds the confirmation request information stored in the work area of theRAM unit 23 to the approval request history file 153 by using theproject ID, the original word or phrase, and the word class as keys, andmakes the process proceed to step S924. In step S924, the managementserver 150 waits for reception of the primary checker comment from theclient A. When the management server 150 has received the primarychecker comment, the management server 150 stores the received primarychecker comment in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes theprocess proceed to step S925. In step S925, the management server 150adds the primary checker comment stored in the work area of the RAM unit23 to the approval request history file 153 by using the project ID, theoriginal word or phrase, and the word class as keys, and makes theprocess proceed to step S926. In step S926, the management server 150transmits the primary checker comment stored in the work area of the RAMunit 23 to the client Y.

In step S961, the client Y stores the received primary checker commentin the work area of the RAM unit 23 and makes the process proceed tostep S962. In step S962, the client Y displays on the screen of theclient Y the icon indication or animation indicating that the primarychecker's comment has been received, at a predetermined position, forexample, the right corner of the task bar, and detects an operationselecting this icon or animation and displays a not-shown primarychecker comment confirmation user interface (a user interface fordisplaying the project ID, the original word or phrase, the word class,the approved translation word, the candidate translation word, thecomment fields in which the approver's comment and the primary checker'scomment are entered, and a revise entry field for entering a revisedtranslation word, and an OK button). When pressing of the OK button hasbeen detected, the client Y makes the process proceed to step S963. Instep S963, the client Y determines whether or not a text which is therevised translation word has been entered in the revise entry field forentering the revised translation word. When the text has been entered,the client Y makes the process proceed to step S528 of FIG. 5. When notext is entered, the client Y makes the process proceed to step S522 ofFIG. 5. This is the end of the explanation of FIG. 9.

Next, FIG. 10 illustrates processing in a case where another request forapproval with the same translation word (previous translation word) foranother original word 2) has been made after a certain original word orphrase 1) and a translation word (previous translation word) have beenapproved, and the translation word (previous translation word) of theprevious original word or phrase 1) should be subjected to collectivereplacement by another new translation word. The processing proceduresof FIG. 10 are those that are executed under the control of the CPU 21of each client, which are executed in step S508 of FIG. 5 or thelater-described step S1208 of FIG. 12.

For example, a possible scenario is as follows: Initially, a request for“device” (the original word or phrase 1)) was made and the primarychecker made an approval with the translation word “souchi” (theprevious translation word). However, a re-request regarding a synonym“apparatus” (the original word or phrase 2)) was subsequently made withthe translation word “souchi,” and then the primary checker thought: “Ohmy God, I have to change the translation word for the device to“debaisu” (the new translation word) so the translation word for theapparatus is “souchi” (the previous translation word).”

In the translated text, the word or phrase corresponding to the “device”already assumes “souchi.” As a result, when the “apparatus” is newlytranslated as “souchi” on an as-is basis, then both of the former“souchi” and the latter “souchi” will reside in the translated text. Inview of this, re-request processing is authorized, and, when thetranslation word is changed on the client side, the following processingis performed on the translated text side. The processing is explainedwith reference to specific examples.

In step S1001, the previous translation word that should be changed isentered or selected by range designation and stored in the work area ofthe RAM unit 23, and the client makes the process proceed to step S1002.In step S1002, the client searches the translated text for the previoustranslation word corresponding to the original word or phrase 1) (the“device” in the above example), and stores the previous translation wordobtained as a result of the search and the location at which theprevious translation word exists (paragraph number and sentence number)in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes the process proceed tostep S1003. In step S1003, the client changes the display attribute suchas character color or background color (base color), etc. of thecorresponding previous translation word that has been searched for(“souchi” in the above example) to a predetermined first displayattribute, stores this previous translation word and the changed firstdisplay attribute in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes theprocess proceed to step S1004. It should be noted that in the flowchartart, the original word or phrase is simply indicated as “original word.”

In step S1004, in order to replace the previous translation word(“souchi”), a new translation word for the original word or phrase 1) isnewly entered via the screen, and the new translation word and the firstdisplay attribute are additionally stored in the work area of the RAMunit 23 independently of the previous translation word, and the clientmakes the process proceed to step S1005. In step S1005, the clientreplaces the previous translation word within the translated text by thenew translation word (“debaisu”) with the first display attribute storedin the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes the process proceed tostep S1006. In step S1006, the client changes the display attribute ofthe original word or phrase 2) (“apparatus”) within the translated text,separately stores this display attribute in the work area of the RAMunit 23, and makes the process proceed to step S1007. In step S1007, theclient replaces the original word or phrase 2) (“apparatus”) within thetranslated text by the previous translation word (“souchi”) stored inthe work area of the RAM unit 23 with a predefined display attribute(second display attribute), and makes the process proceed to step S1008.

In step S1008, the client performs search to check whether or not thereremains any yet-to-be-replaced original word or phrase 1) (“device”) onthe side of the translated text, and makes the process proceed to stepS1009. In step S1009, when there still remains the original word orphrase 1) within the translated text, the client makes the process toproceed to step S1010. In step S1010, when there remains theyet-to-be-replaced original word or phrase 1) (“device”) within thetranslated text, the client changes the display attribute to apredefined display attribute (third display attribute), stores thisthird display attribute as well in the work area of the RAM unit 23, andmakes the process proceed to step S1011. In step S1009, when it has beendetermined that there is no original word or phrase 1) remaining withinthe translation version, the client ends the process. In step S1011, theclient, while maintaining the third display attribute further predefinedin step S1010, replaces the original word or phrase 1) (“device”) withinthe translated text by the new translation word (“debaisu”) stored inthe work area of the RAM unit 23 in step S1004. This third displayattribute is included in the configuration file stored in the hard disk28, and specified as a display attribute that is different from both ofthe first display attribute and the second display attribute which arealso included in the configuration file.

It should be noted here that the display attribute as used herein refersto colors of characters, font (at least either one of type and size),bold/standard, base color (background color), italics, and the like. Byprecedingly executing the processing to change the display attribute inthis manner, it is made possible to execute the change processing tochange the translation word by only one click. In addition, by storingthe first to third display attributes as display attributes that aredifferent than each other (for example, stored as three backgroundcolors that are different from each other, or bold character colors thatare different from each other), and providing display with thesemutually different display attributes maintained even after thecollective replacement, it is made possible to readily confirm thecollective replacement portions even after the collective replacement.This is the end of the explanation of FIG. 10.

Next, FIG. 12 is explained. FIG. 12 is a general flowchart illustratingan embodiment of approval request processing for memory data entered bythe client and update notification processing for memory data of thetranslation support system according to the present invention. StepsS1201 to S1208 of FIG. 12 are associated with processing procedures thatare executed under the control of the CPU 21 of the client B operated bya rank-and-file translator who is not the primary checker, and stepsS1209 to S1212 are associated with the processing procedures executedunder the control of the respective CPUs 21 of the clients A and B, andsteps S1221 to S1232 are associated with the processing proceduresexecuted under the control of the CPU 21 of the management server 150.Steps S1240 to S1244 of FIG. 12 are associated with the processingprocedures executed under the control of the CPU 21 of the client C;steps S1251 to S1253 are associated with the processing proceduresexecuted under the control of the CPU 21 of the client A; and stepsS1261 to S1263 are associated with the processing procedures executedunder the control of the CPU 21 of the client Y operated by theapprover.

The following provides explanations by way of an example where theclient B makes a request for approval of a certain translation word. Instep S1201, the client B requests a user interface for approval requestof memory data. In step S1221, the management server 150 transmits theuser interface information for displaying the user interface for theapproval request of the memory data to the client B, makes the processproceed to step S1222, and then enters the wait state to wait forreception of information from the client B. In step S1201, the client Benters, on the approval request user interface, the translation wordapproval request information for the memory data (the project ID, thetranslator ID, the word class, the original word or phrase, and thetranslation word). When pressing of a “Request” button on the userinterface has been detected, the client B sets the transmission flagwhen all of the mandatory entry items have been entered, stores them inthe work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes the process proceed to stepS1202. In step S1202, when the transmission flag in the work area of theRAM unit 23 is enabled, the client B makes the process proceed to stepS1203. In step S1203, the client B transmits the operation informationto the management server 150 and, after the transmission, clears thetransmission flag in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes theprocess proceed to step S1204.

This translation word approval request information is also stored in thehard disk 28 of the client B as request-pending information, and can bereferred to on the later-described message board as the memoryinformation of the approval request in-progress of the approval historyfile 153. Next, when, in step S1202, not all of the items are entered orthe operation is not the approval request, then the client B makes theprocess proceed to step S1204. Steps S1203 to S1208 are the same orsimilar procedures as those of steps S504 to S508 of FIG. 5. The detailsof the processing of step S1208 and the processing procedure of stepS1226 corresponding thereto of the management server 150 are explainedwith reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 27.

Next, the management server 150, which has entered and remained in thewait state to wait for reception of information receives information instep S1222, stores the information in the work area of the RAM unit 23and makes the process proceed to step S1223. In step S1223, themanagement server 150 determines whether or not the received informationis the translation word approval request information. When it has beendetermined that the received information is the translation wordapproval request information, the management server 150 makes theprocess proceed to step S1224. When it has been determined that thereceived information is not the translation word approval requestinformation, then the management server 150 makes the process proceed tostep S1226. In step S1226, the management server 150 performs processingin accordance with the operation on the side of the client identified bythe received information. Details of step S1226 is explained withreference to FIG. 27.

In step S1224, the management server 150 performs search to checkwhether or not an approval request already exists in the approvalrequest history file 153 (the project ID, the memory ID, the translatorID, the word class, the original word or phrase, the translation word,the approved translation word, the approver ID, and the date ofapproval) for the same original word or phrase by using the originalword or phrase as a key. When there exists an approval request whoseoriginal word or phrase agrees with that of this approval request, thenthe management server 150 stores the corresponding translation word andthe date of approval in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes theprocess proceed to step S1225. In step S1225, when an approval hasalready been made with the same original word or phrase and thetranslation word, then the management server 150 transmits a message tothe client B, the message indicating that the approval has been alreadymade. When an approval has been made with a different translation word,then the management server 150 transmits, to the client B, thisdifferent translation word, the original word or phrase, and a messagewhich asks the client B as follows: “Approval is made with differentword or phrase. Is it really all right with this translation word? Orshould this request be treated as an independent one?” When the responsefrom the client B is requesting to treat this request as an independentrequest, the management server 150 proceeds with processing for thisapproval request. Details of step S1225 is independently explained withreference to the detailed flowchart illustrated in FIG. 13.

The translation word approval request information is transmitted to theclient A operated by the primary checker, independently of which thetranslation word approval request information is also transmitted toother translators such as the client C. In step S1240, the displayattributes (for example, colors of characters, background colors, andbold characters, etc.) of all of the sections including the sameoriginal words or phrases of the original texts of which othertranslators are in charge, which correspond to the original word orphrase for which the approval request is in progress included in theapproval information, are changed, and the translators are readilyallowed to notice that an approval request is being processed for thisoriginal word or phrase, and thereby occurrence of double approvalrequests is avoided. Details of step S1240 is separately explained withreference to the detailed flowchart illustrated in FIG. 14.

In step S1251, the client A receives the translation word approvalrequest information, registers the received translation word approvalrequest information in the approval request in-progress work file of thehard disk 28, stores this translation word approval request informationin the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes the process proceed tostep S1252. In step S1252, an icon or animation is displayed on thescreen of the client A, the icon or animation indicating that thetranslation word approval request information has been received. When anoperation by the primary checker who is the primary checker at all hasbeen detected for displaying the translation word approval requestinformation, then the translation word approval request information isdisplayed including the project ID, the word class, the original word orphrase, and the translation word for which the approval is requested.Approval or rejection of the request, the primary check translation wordwhich may be revised as needed, or comment requesting the approver toperform investigation of the approved translation word, are primarilyconfirmed and entered by the primary checker and stored in the work areaof the RAM unit 23, and thus the client A makes the process proceed tostep S1253, and the primary check information (the project ID, thetranslator ID, the word class, the original word or phrase, a primarycheck translation word, and a processing flag) is transmitted to themanagement server 150. Rejection of an approval occurs when atranslation word that corresponds to the original word or phrase forwhich the approval was requested is already registered in the commonmemory and there is no need of the translation word being newly added orrevised. In step S1227, the management server 150 receives the primarycheck information and stores this primary check information in the workarea of the RAM unit 23, adds the received primary check information tothe approval request history file 153, and makes the process proceed tostep S1228. In the step 628, the client A transmits to the client Yoperated by the approver the approval request information whose contentis identical with the primary check information stored in the work areaof the RAM unit 23.

In step S1261, the client Y receives the approval request information,stores the received approval request information in the work area of theRAM unit 23, and receives a dialog user interface indicating the factthat the approval request information has been received as well as an OKbutton and a Cancel button. When pressing of the OK button on the dialogscreen has been received, the client Y displays the approval entry userinterface (a user interface for displaying the approval requestinformation, an Approve button, a Reject button, a translation wordentry field, a comment entry field, and a Save button) including theapproval request information, and makes the process proceed to stepS1262. It may also be contemplated that, in step S1261, the client Ydoes not display the dialog but indicates an icon indication oranimation indicating that the approval request information has beenreceived, at a predetermined position, for example, the right corner ofthe task bar or the like, and displays the approval request entry userinterface upon detection of the operation of selecting this icon or theanimation.

In step S1262, the approval entry user interface is displayed. Whenpressing of the Save button has been detected in a state where a text isentered in the translation word entry field or the comment entry field,then the entry classification for identifying the translation word orthe comment and the text that has been entered are stored in the workarea of the RAM unit 23. When pressing of the Approve button or theReject button has been detected, an approval flag in accordance with thebutton that has been pressed is stored in the work area of the RAM unit23. In step S1263, the client Y transmits, to the management server 150,the approval information (including the project ID, the original word orphrase, the word class, the approved translation word, and theprocessing flag) including at least the approval flag, the original wordor phrase, the approved translation word, the entry classification foridentifying the revised approved translation word (if there is any entryin the translation word entry field or the comment entry field) or acomment (1 when the approved translation word was revised; 2 when acomment was entered; and 3 when both of them were entered) stored in thework area of the RAM unit 23, and the entered text.

In step S1229, the management server 150 receives the approvalinformation, stores the received approval information in the work areaof the RAM unit 23, and stores a reception time based on the systemtime; the project ID; the approval flag; the original word or phrase,the word class, approved translation word; a notification flag (disabledby default) indicating whether or not notification to the client hasbeen made; and a reflection flag (disabled by default) for eachtranslator ID, the flag indicating that the approved translation wordhas been reflected upon multiple sentences for each client operated bythe each translator, in the approval request history file of theapproval request history storage unit 351 of the hard disk 28 of themanagement server 150, and makes the process proceed to step S1230. Instep S1230, when the approval flag included in this approval informationis enabled, the management server 150 updates the common memory 151 thatcorresponds to the project ID included in the approval information, andtransmits, to the client A and the client B, the memory updateinformation (including the project ID, the original word or phrase, theword class, the approved translation word, and the processing flag), andalso transmits the memory update information to the client C. The CPU 21makes the process proceed to step S1231. In step S1231, the managementserver 150 updates the message board for individual translators and thedisplay information of the common message board (HTML for the managementserver side to display the message board illustrated in FIGS. 22 to 24on the screen of the client) using the new approval information. StepS1231 is separately explained with reference to the detailed flowchartillustrated in FIG. 21. Next, the management server 150 makes theprocess proceed to step S1232, and transmits the approval information tothe approval requester and the client operated by the translator havingthe translation range of which the translator is in charge containingthe approved original word or phrase. Details of the processingprocedure of step S1232 is separately explained with reference to thedetailed flowchart illustrated in FIG. 25.

Next, the processing on the side of the client is explained. The clientA and the client B respectively receive the memory update information instep S1209, store the received memory update information in the workarea of the RAM unit 23, and respectively make the process proceed tostep S1210. In step S1210, the client A and the client B respectivelyuse the received memory update information step and updates the localmemory 115 or the local memory 125 and the original text correspondingto the project ID, and make the process proceed to step S1211. Detailsof step S1210 is explained with reference to the flowchart illustratedin FIG. 15. In step S1211, the client A and the client B individuallyreceive the approval notification, store it in the work area of the RAMunit 23, and an icon or animation indicating that the approvalnotification exists is displayed at a predetermined position, forexample, on a task bar on the respective screens. When these icons oranimations are selected by a cursor of the mouse, then the client A andthe client B make the process proceed to step S1212 and individuallydisplay the approval information on the user interface as illustrated inFIGS. 22 to 24. Meanwhile, the client C receives the memory updateinformation in step S1241, stores the received memory update informationin the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes the process proceed tostep S1242. In step S1242, the client C uses the received memory updateinformation step and updates the local memory 135 and the original textcorresponding to the project ID, and makes the process proceed to stepS1243. Details of step S1242 is explained with reference to theflowchart illustrated in FIG. 15. In step S1243, the client C receivesthe approval notification and stores the received approval notificationin the work area of the RAM unit 23, and an icon or animation indicatingthat the approval notification exists is displayed at a predeterminedposition, for example, on a task bar of the screen. When this icon oranimation is selected by the cursor of the mouse, the client C makes theprocess proceed to step S1244 and displays the approval information onthe user interface as illustrated in FIGS. 22 to 24. This is the end ofthe explanation of FIG. 12.

FIG. 13 is a detailed flowchart of a case where an approval request hasbeen made ((detailed processing procedures of step S1222 to step S1225)of FIG. 12). The following steps S1301 to S1311 are associated with theprocessing procedures executed under the control of the CPU 21 of themanagement server 150. Even when an approval request has been made againfor the same original word or phrase from a translator other than therequester of this request after the first approval due to overlookingthe approval information posted on the message board or the like, theapproval request history file 153 storing the request historyinformation stored in the hard disk 28 is searched by using as a key theoriginal word or phrase for which the approval was requested. When theoriginal word or phrase has already been approved, then the originalword or phrase, the already approved translation word or phrase, and amessage which indicates, for example, that “The original word or phraseXXXX was already registered on Day Δ of Month ◯ with the translationword YYYY” are displayed on the terminal of the translator who made theapproval request again. Implementation of this display function makes itpossible to avoid complication that approval requests having the samecontent are repeatedly sent to the primary checker.

First, the management server 150 receives the information and stores thereceived information in the work area of the RAM unit 23 in step S1301,and makes the process proceed to step S1302. In step S1302, themanagement server 150 determines whether or not the received informationis the translation word approval request information. When it has beendetermined that the received information is the translation wordapproval request information (including the project ID, the translatorID, the word class, the original word or phrase, and the translationword), then the management server 150 makes the process proceed to stepS1303. When it has been determined that it is not the translation wordapproval request information, the management server 150 makes theprocess proceed to step S1226. In step S1226, the management server 150performs the processing in accordance with the operation on the side ofthe client identified by the received information.

In step S1303, the management server 150 performs search with regard tothe same original word or phrase to check whether or not an approvalrequest already exists in the approval request history file 153 of theapproval request history storage unit 351 by using as a key the originalword or phrase and the translation word of the new translation wordapproval request information. When an approval request whose originalword or phrase is identical exists, then the management server 150stores the corresponding original word or phrase, the approvedtranslation word, and the date of approval in the work area of the RAMunit 23. When an approval request whose original word or phrase isidentical does not exist, then the management server 150 stores amessage, the message indicating that there is no identical original wordor phrase, in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes the processproceed to step S1304. In step S1304, the management server 150 refersto the work area of the RAM unit 23 and determines whether or not therealready exists an approval request having the same original word orphrase in the approval request history file 153. When it has beendetermined that the approval request having the same original word orphrase exists, then the management server 150 makes the process toproceed to step S1305. When it has been determined that the approvalrequest having the same original word or phrase does not exist, then themanagement server 150 makes the process to proceed to step S1311. Instep S1305, when an approval request with the same original word orphrase and the same translation word exists in the approval requesthistory file 153, then the management server 150 makes the process toproceed to step S1306.

In step S1306, the management server 150 generates first notificationinformation (for example, a message representing the fact that anapproval has already been made, such as “The original word or phraseXXXX was approved with the translation word YYYY on Day Δ of Month ◯.”),stores the first notification information in the work area of the RAMunit 23, and then transmits the first notification information to theclient B operated by the translator who made the request. Meanwhile,when the translation word is not identical in step S1305, then themanagement server 150 makes the process to proceed to step S1307. Instep S1307, the management server 150 uses the message information readfrom the notification storage unit 355 and generates information fordisplaying a confirmation message on the screen of the client of theapproval requester (second notification information), stores the secondnotification information in the work area of the RAM unit 23, andtransmits this second notification information (for example, aconfirmation message such as “The original word or phrase XXXX has beenapproved with the translation word YYYY on Day Δ of Month ◯. Is itreally all right with this translation word?”) to the client B, andrequests the translator operating the client B which made the request tomake a response regarding whether it is all right with this translationword or this request is a re-approval request, and makes the processproceed to step S1308 to wait for the response. When the managementserver 150 has received the response message from the client B in stepS1308, then the management server 150 stores this response message inthe work area of the RAM unit 23 and makes the process proceed to stepS1309.

When a response to the effect that “consent given to the approvedtranslation word” is received from the client operated by the translatorin step S1309, then the management server 150 makes the process go backto step S1301. When the received response is to “disagree with theapproved translation word” (re-approval request), then the managementserver 150 makes the process go back to step S1310. In step S1310, themanagement server 150 adds, to the translation word approval requestinformation, the item of approval eligibility flag (initially disabled),the item of processing flag (initially disabled), and informationindicating that this request is a re-request and thus generates thirdnotification information, stores the third notification information inthe work area of the RAM unit 23, and, to the client A operated by theprimary checker, generates this third notification information(re-approval request information regarding the same original word orphrase), stores the third notification information in the work area ofthe RAM unit 23, and transmits the third notification information fromthe management server 150. The client A receives this third notificationinformation and executes step S1251. In step S1311, the managementserver 150 generates fourth notification information which is newapproval request including translation word approval request informationwith the item of approval eligibility flag (initially disabled) and theitem of processing flag (initially disabled) added thereto, stores thefourth notification information in the work area of the RAM unit 23, andtransmits the fourth notification information to the client A operatedby the primary checker. The client A receives this third notificationinformation and executes step S1251.

It may also be contemplated that processing procedures of a flowchartsimilar to that of this FIG. 13 are executed by the client Y operated bythe approver. The differences are explained below. In FIG. 13, theapproval request history file 153 that stores the request historyinformation is stored in the hard disk 28 of the management server 150.In contrast, the approval request history file 153 will be stored in thehard disk 28 of the client Y (or search is made from the client Y withregard to the approval request history file 153 of the management server150), which is the difference with respect to FIG. 13. Also, thetranslation word approval request information is not received via themanagement server 150 but directly from another client and stored in thework area of the RAM unit 23 and thus the processing is performed, whichis another difference with respect to FIG. 13. It will be appreciatedthat another configuration is also possible according to which themanagement server 150 simply transfers the information to the client A.

Steps S1301 to S1309 will be performed in the same manner except thatthey are executed by the client Y. With regard to step S1310, thedifference lies in the fact that the display information for displayingthe original word or phrase, the requested translation word, and thefirst message indicating that this request is a re-approval request isgenerated and displayed on the screen of the client Y. In step S1311,the difference lies in the fact that display information for displayingthe original word or phrase, the requested translation word, and thesecond message indicating that this request is a new approval request isgenerated and displayed on the screen of the client Y. Further, thedifference also lies in the fact that the message as such indicatingthat there is a re-approval request or a new approval request orindirect information such as an icon or animation, etc. representing thepresence of these messages is displayed on the screen of the client Y.Also, it may be contemplated that in step S1306 to step S1308 which areexchange of messages with the client operated by the requester, theclient operated by the requester and the client Y operated by theapprover directly exchange the messages or exchange the messages via themanagement server 150. This is the end of the explanation of FIG. 13 andits modified example.

Next, the flowchart of FIG. 14 is explained. In the flowchart of FIG. 14and in FIG. 12 illustrating the details of the original displayattribute modification processing of step S1240 of FIG. 12, this is aflowchart of the processing executed by the client C. It is alsocontemplated that the client C is only an example and the processing maybe executed by another client. The individual processing procedures ofsteps S1401 to S1409 are those that are executed under the control ofthe CPU 21 of the client C. In step S1401, when the client C receivesnotification information, the client C makes the process proceed to stepS1402. In step S1402, the client C displays an icon at a predeterminedposition, for example, on a task bar of the screen or a gadget displayarea, or a predetermined position on a window of application, the iconindicating that the notification information of the approval request hasbeen received, and makes the process proceed to step S1403. The locationof display is not limited to the above. Alternatively, it is alsocontemplated that a small animation can be displayed in place of theicon.

In step S1403, the client C makes determination regarding the operationinformation. Specifically, the client C determines presence or absenceof an event, for example, such as pressing of a left button of themouse. When the occurrence of an event has been determined, the client Cmakes the process proceed to step S1404. In step S1404, when the clientC determined that the icon indicating the reception of the notificationinformation of the approval request had been selected by clicking of theleft button of the mouse, the client C makes the process proceed to stepS1405. In step S1405, the client C displays a list of informationregarding the approval request in-progress on a not-shown attributechange user interface which is similar to the user interface asillustrated in FIG. 16. The attribute change user interface differs fromthe user interface of FIG. 16 in that a “Change Attribute” button isdisplayed in place of the “Update” button. When this attribute changeuser interface is displayed, then the client C makes the process proceedto step S1406.

In step S1406, when pressing of the “Change Attribute” button has beendetected, the client C makes the process proceed to step S1407. In stepS1407, the display attribute is changed with regard to the original wordor phrase for which a check mark is entered in the checkbox on theattribute change user interface. The display attribute is stored inadvance in the hard disk 28 of each client as the configurationinformation and can also be changed. In step S1406, if the “ChangeAttribute” button is not pressed, then the client C makes the processproceed to step S1408. In step S1408, when it has been determined thatany operation other than pressing of the “Change Attribute” button wasmade, then the client C makes the process proceed to step S1409. When ithas been determined that no operation was made, then the client C makesthe process go back to step S1403. In step S1409, the client C executesprocessing procedure in accordance with the operation. This is the endof the explanation of FIG. 14.

Next, FIG. 15 is a detailed flowchart that illustrates the details ofthe local memory update processing (steps S1210 and S1242 of FIG. 12) onthe client side. In FIG. 15, steps S1521 to S1528 are associated withthe processing procedures that are executed under the control of the CPU21 of the management server 150, and steps S1501 to step S1506 areassociated with the processing procedures that are executed under thecontrol of the CPU 21 of the client B. First, in step S1521, when it hasbeen determined that new approval information was received, themanagement server 150 makes the process to proceed to step S1522. Instep S1522, the management server 150 generates a work file includingNo., the original word or phrase, the translation word or phrase, andthe display attribute on the basis of the newly received approvalinformation, stores the work file in the work area of the RAM unit 23,and makes the process to proceed to step S1523. In step S1523, themanagement server 150 searches the assignment range storage unit 353 byusing as keys the translator ID of this translator and the project IDincluded in the approval information stored in the work area of the RAMunit 23, and searches the original text storage unit 352 by using theoriginal word or phrase as a key with regard to the identifiedtranslation assignment range, stores the search result (the project ID,the translator ID, the paragraph number, the sentence number, and theoriginal word or phrase) in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makesthe process proceed to step S1524.

In step S1524, the management server 150 determines whether or not thisoriginal word or phrase is contained in the original text within thetranslation range in charge on the basis of the result of search in stepS1523 stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23. When it has beendetermined that this original word or phrase is contained in thisoriginal text, the management server 150 makes the process proceed tostep S1525. In step S1525, the management server 150 changes the displayattribute of the original word or phrase contained in the original textwithin the translation assignment range to a predetermined displayattribute R (for example, the character color of the characters ischanged to orange color), and makes the process proceed to step S1527.Meanwhile, in step S1524, when it has been determined that this originalword or phrase is not contained in the original text within thetranslation range in charge, the management server 150 makes the processproceed to step S1526. In step S1526, the management server 150 changesthe display attribute of the word or phrase that is not contained in theoriginal text within the translation range to a predetermined displayattribute P that is different than the display attribute R (for example,the character color of the characters is changed to violet color), andmakes the process proceed to step S1527. Here, another processing mayalso be contemplated according to which only either of steps S1525 andS1526 is executed, in other words, only either one of the displayattributes is changed, while the display attribute is not changed in theother of steps S1525 and S1526. It therefore suffices that the word orphrase that is contained in the translation range and the word or phrasethat is not contained in the translation range are readily distinguishedfrom each other.

In step S1527, when it has been determined that search for all of thenewly received approval information and change to the display attributeare completed, the management server 150 makes the process proceed tostep S1528. In step S1528, the management server 150 generates displayinformation (the approval list information (the original word or phrase162 and the translation word or phrase 163)) for displaying a userinterface as illustrated in FIG. 16 on the client, transmits thegenerated display information to the client B, and thus ends theprocessing. Meanwhile, when it has been determined in step S1527 thatthe search for all of the approval information and updating of thedisplay attribute are not completed, then the management server 150makes the process go back to step S1523. The client B receives theapproval list information in step S1501, stores the received approvallist information in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes theprocess proceed to step S1502. In step S1502, the client B displays auser interface as illustrated in FIG. 16 and makes the process proceedto step S1503. In step S1503, the client B determines whether or not acheck mark is entered in a checkbox 161 of a particular row. When thecheck mark is entered, the client B makes the process proceed to stepS1504. In step S1504, the client B sets a replacement flag of theapproval information corresponding to the checkbox, the replacement flagbeing stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes the processproceed to step S1505. When no check mark is entered, the client B makesthe process go back to step S1501. In step S1505, when pressing of an“Update” button 160 on the user interface of FIG. 16 has been detected,the client B makes the process proceed to step S1506. In step S1506, theclient B updates the local memory of the client operated by thistranslator with the memory data for the approval information for whichthe replacement flag is enabled, and thus ends the processing. In stepS1506, when pressing of the “Update” button 160 was not detected, thenthe client B makes the process go back to step S1501. This is the end ofthe explanation of FIG. 15.

Next, following the update processing of FIG. 15, or on the assumptionthat automatic reflection is applied to the local memory, the followingtwo modified embodiments are explained as methodology of updating anapproved translation word for a translation word of the currentlyhandled translated text. In the first modified embodiment, with regardto step S1507 of FIG. 15, a bilingual display of the original word orphrase 1802 and the translated text 1803 for one paragraph or precedingthree to five sentences and the succeeding three to five sentences andthe display of the checkbox 1801 as illustrated in FIG. 18 aredisplayed, which is the feature with respect to the list user interfaceof FIG. 16.

The following illustrates the processing on the side of the client withregard to the difference with regard to the above-described memoryupdate processing with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 17. StepsS1721 to S1725 are the same or similar processing procedures of theabove-described step S1501 to step S1505 of FIG. 15 and explanationthereof is omitted. In step S1726, the management server 150 searchesfor a translated text portion corresponding to the original textportion, by using as keys the paragraph number and the sentence numberof the display information of the original text generated in step S1725,outputs the original word or phrase, the original text portion includingthis original word or phrase, and the corresponding translated textportion that is the search result, to the work area of the RAM unit 23as a work file, and makes the process proceed to step S1727. Details ofthe search processing of step S1726 are the same as those of the searchprocessing of step S703 of FIG. 7. In step S1727, management server 150generates the display information including a checkbox 1801 for updatingthe translation words and outputs the generated display information tothe work area of the RAM unit 23 as a work file, and makes the processproceed to step S1728. In step S1728, the client determines whether ornot search for all information of the original text portion within theassignment range has been completed. When it has been determined thatthe search has been completed, then the client makes the process proceedto step S1729. When it has been determined that it is not completed, theclient makes the process go back to step S1723.

In step S1729, when there are multiple translation word updates for onesingle sentence, then the management server 150 deletes the overlappedoriginal text and the translated text, and in order to display thebilingual display screen including displaying multiple update checkboxes1501 on the display field of one sentence, generates the displayinformation, and makes the process proceed to step S1730. In step S1730,a bilingual display screen for memory update as illustrated in FIG. 18is displayed, and the process is made to proceed to step S1731. Itshould be noted that on the user interface of FIG. 18, when multipleupdate checkboxes 1801 are to be displayed on the display field of onesentence, information for identifying the word or phrase to be reflected(for example, *1, *2, etc.) is displayed for example, adjacent to theright side of the checkbox, and “(*1),” “(*2),” etc. are also displayedimmediately after the corresponding original word or phrase to clarifythe association (this portion is not shown). Step S1731 to step S1734are the same or similar to steps S1508 to S1511 of the above describedFIG. 15, respectively, and accordingly the explanation thereof isomitted. This is the end of the explanation of the flowchart of FIG. 17.

Next, the second modified embodiment is explained using the flowchart ofFIG. 19 and the user interface of FIG. 20. In accordance with the secondmodified embodiment, processing is executed according to which words orphrases in the order of one to two words preceding or succeeding theapproved word or phrase and having high similarity thereto are groupedin to a plurality of groups and indicated together, making it possibleto perform collective updating in units of groups. Steps S1941 to S1945in the flowchart of FIG. 19 are the same as or similar to step S1501 tostep S1505 of FIG. 15 and accordingly the explanation thereof isomitted.

In step S1946, the management server 150 searches for the correspondingtranslated text by using as keys the paragraph number and the sentencenumber included in the original display information generated in stepS1945, outputs the corresponding translated text in the work area of theRAM unit 23 as a work file, and makes the process proceed to step S1947.In step S1947, the management server 150 generates display informationof the translated text, stores the display information in the work areaof the RAM unit, and makes the process proceed to step S1948, whichtakes place in the same or similar manner as in step S1527 and detailedexplanation thereof is omitted. In step S1948, the management server 150determines whether or not search for all of the translated textscorresponding to the original text is completed. When it has beendetermined that it is completed, then the management server 150 makesthe process proceed to step S1949. When it has been determined that itis not completed, then the management server 150 makes the process goback to step S1943. In step S1949, the management server 150 searchesfor a translated text portion including the same translation word,outputs the translated text portion to the work file of the RAM unit 23,and makes the process proceed to step S1950. In step S1950, for thetranslated text portion of the work file of the RAM unit 23, apredetermined number of words or characters (for example, two to threewords or three to four characters) before and after the same translationword are subjected to the comparison, and for the same translation word,the sentences containing a predetermined number of preceding andsucceeding words or characters (for example, two to three words or threeto four characters) similar to the same translation word are groupedinto one group, and the work files are sorted by the groups of“translation word>preceding/succeeding words (or characters),” and thusthe management server 150 makes the process proceed to step S1951. Withregard to the similarity as used herein in the context of step S1950,for example, words are determined to be similar even when they differ in“a” and “the” in the case where the translated text is written inEnglish as long as the word or words that follow are identical.

In step S1951, the user interface to be displayed includes, asillustrated in FIG. 20, a check field 2001, an original text 2002, atranslated text 2003, and an Update button 2000 which are displayed asone set for each group. Also, in the second group, a check field 2011,an original text 2012, a translated text 2013, and an Update button 2010are respectively displayed, and the client makes the process proceed tostep S1952. In the third group of FIG. 20, a check field 2021, anoriginal text 2022, a translated text 2023, and an Update button 2020are displayed, and the memory data is updated by pressing of the Updatebuttons respectively in units of groups, which is the difference withrespect to the user interface of FIG. 18. Steps S1952 to S1955 are thesame or similar to steps S1531 to S1534 of FIG. 15, respectively, andexplanation of thereof is omitted. This is the end of the explanation ofFIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is a detailed flowchart that illustrates the details of themessage board update processing (step S1231 of FIG. 12), which is theprocessing that is executed under the control of the CPU 21 of themanagement server 150. In step S2101, the management server 150generates HTML information for providing display on the message boardusing the received update information, stores the generated HTMLinformation in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes the processproceed to step S2102. In step S2102, the management server 150 uses theHTML information by which the information of the common message board isgenerated, and updates the display information of the message board. Instep S2103, the management server 150 stores the original text portionsfor which the individual translators are in charge of translation in thework area of the RAM unit 23 in accordance with the on-a-per-translatorbasis assignment ranges stored in the translation assignment range tableof the management file 1), and makes the process proceed to step S2104.In step S2104, the management server 150 determines whether or not theprocessing procedures of the storage processing for storing the originaltext portions for which all of the translators are in charge oftranslation in the work area of the RAM unit 23 and the processingprocedures of step S2105 to step S2107 are completed. When theprocessing procedures are not completed, the management server 150 makesthe process proceed to step S2105. When the processing procedures forall of the translators of this project are completed, the managementserver 150 ends the process.

In step S2105, the management server 150 searches for the original textportion for one translator with the original word or phrase of theupdate information received this time. In step S2106, when it has beendetermined that the original word or phrase of the update informationreceived this time is contained in the original text portion of thistranslator, then the management server 150 in step S2107 updates themessage board information so as to post the update information on themessage board for this translator. By this processing, each translatoris only allowed to refer to the approval information that is necessaryfor their own translation range. The original word or phrase that is notcontained in their own translation range but is necessary to refer toother portions can be independently confirmed by the approved messageboard which is a common message board. Alternatively, the original wordor phrase (or its translation word) contained in the translationassignment range and the original word or phrase (or its translationword) that is not contained in the translation assignment range can bedisplayed with different display attributes (for example, differentcharacter colors or different background colors).

The private message board and the common message board are displayed, asillustrated in FIG. 22, with the message board section displayed in theform of a tab in the similar manner as in the case of a tab browser aspart of the entry and edit user interface on which an original displaywindow and a translation display/entry window are juxtaposedly arranged.Accordingly, by moving the cursor so as to reside on the tab section(2201 to 2205) and pressing the button of the mouse, it is made possibleto switch in one single operation the display of the private messageboard and the common message board. The user interface at the bottom ofFIG. 22 illustrates a display state where a new arrival approvalinformation tab 2201 is selected.

Also, the private message board includes: a “New Arrival” approvalinformation display tab 2201 for displaying the new-arrival approvalmemory data which is memory information newly approved by the approver;a “Request-Pending” tab 2203 for the above mentioned request-pendingtranslation word of the translation word approval request informationstored in the hard disk 28; and a tab 2204 for rejected translation wordincluding the original word or phrase and the original translation wordin the case where the translation word information has been approvedafter having been revised. As the common message board, there isprovided an “Approved” tab 2202 for already approved translation words.Further, on the tab for the message board, there are provided a“Setting” tab 2205 and a not-shown “Setting” menu, and the display modeof the approval information of the memory data can be selected.

It can be specified by the “Setting” tab 2205 or the “Setting” menuwhether or not an original word or phrase that is not contained in theoriginal text portion within the assignment range to be translated bythe translator himself/herself, and whether or not its translation wordshould also be displayed in the “New Arrival” approval informationdisplay tab 2201. When the original word or phrase that is not containedin the original text portion within the assignment range and itstranslation word are to be displayed, then (i) the font display colorand background display color of the original words or phrases containedin the original text portion within the assignment range and itstranslation word and (ii) the font display color and background displaycolor of the original word or phrase that is not contained in theoriginal text portion within the assignment range and its translationword, can be specified. Further, it is possible to specify the specificduration of time (for example, 12 hours, one day, two days, etc.) afterthe new reception during which display should be maintained as thenew-arrival approval memory data. Also, with regard to each one of thenew-arrival approval memory data, the approved memory data, therequest-pending memory data, and the rejected memory data, it ispossible to specify the display timing (upon reception of thenotification, once for every 30 minutes, once for every one hour, forthree hours from 9 a.m., etc.).

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 22, settings may be done via the“Setting” tab 2205 or the “setting menu” such that the original word orphrase and the translation word of the new arrival memory data aredisplayed so that they slide from the right to the left in a landscaperoll ticker display section 2212 in a roll telop form.

Also, as illustrated in FIG. 23, elongated mini windows which are fourin total and (portrait windows displayed such that navigation windowsare displayed on the left and right sides of main windows) are displayedon the left side and the right side at the left and right end portionsof the original display window 2310 and the translation display/entrywindow 2311 that are juxtaposedly arranged on the user interface, in oneof which only the original word or phrase of the newly arrived approvedtranslation word 2302, or the original word or phrase and thetranslation word is displayed. Also, settings may be done via the“Setting” tab 2205 or the “Setting Menu” such that the correspondingoriginal word or phrase only or both of the original word or phrase andthe translation word are displayed with regard to the other three words,i.e., an approval request in-progress translation word 2303, an approvedtranslation word 2301, and a rejected translation word 2304 indicativeof the rejected approval request. By providing display in this manner,it is made possible to efficiently proceed with the translationoperations while making reference as appropriate to the approvedinformation.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 24, mini windows are displayed at upper,lower, left, and right sides, and thus by four in total on another userinterface 2401 that is different from an original display window 2411and a translation display/entry window 2412 that are juxtaposedlyarranged in the user interface 2410, on one of which an original word orphrase only of the newly arrived approved translation word 2402, or bothof the original word or phrase and the translation word are displayed.Also, settings may be done via the “Setting” tab 2205 or the “SettingMenu” such that the corresponding original word or phrase only or bothof the original word or phrase and the translation word are displayedwith regard to the other three words, i.e., an approval requestin-progress translation word 2403, an approved translation word 2401,and a rejected translation word 2404 indicative of the rejected approvalrequest. By providing display in this manner, it is made possible toefficiently proceed with the translation operations, for example, bydisplaying the user interface 2410 for translation operation to thefront in a large size on the screen in a normal state and by displayingthe user interface 2401 to the front in a large size when referring asappropriate to the approved information.

FIG. 25 is a detailed flowchart that illustrates the details of theapproval notification processing (step S1232 of FIG. 12). In step S2500,when it has been determined that new approval information was received,the management server 150 makes the process proceed to step S2501. Whenit has been determined that no new approval information has beenreceived, the management server 150 makes the process proceed to stepS2507. In step S2501, the requested translation word in the translationword approval request information is compared with the approvedtranslation word. When the requested translation word is not inagreement with the approved translation word (when the translation wordwas approved after being revised), a revise flag is enabled. When therequested translation word is in agreement with the approved translationword, the revise flag is disabled and the requested translation word isstored in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and thus the managementserver 150 makes the process proceed to step S2502. In step S2502, themanagement server 150 further reads from the notification storage unit355 at least either one of the message or the display attribute inaccordance with the revise flag (presence or absence of the translationword revision) and generates notification information 3) which isinformation to be notified to the original requester (the client B) andstores the notification information 3) in the work area of the RAM unit23. The notification information 3) includes the project ID, the wordclass, the original word or phrase, the approved translation word, andthe message read from the notification storage unit 355. When the reviseflag is enabled, a message is added to the notification information 3),the message indicating that the translation words were revised, forexample, such as “The translation word XXX was approved after beingrevised as the translation word YYY.” Alternatively, in addition to theabove mentioned message indicating that the translation word was revisedor in place of this message, the information for displaying the displayattribute of the revised translation word is changed (for example, thedisplay thereof is changed to red characters), or alternatively, theinformation for identifying the display attribute (for example, at leasteither one of information for identifying the display color ofcharacters, information for specifying a background color of a characterportion, and information for specifying a typeface of characters) isalso generated and included in the notification information 3). Themanagement server 150 makes the process proceed to step S2503.

In step S2503, the management server 150 transmits notificationinformation 3) to the client B. In this manner, when an approval ismade, notification is unconditionally sent to the original requester andthe management server 150 makes the process proceed to step S2504. Instep S2504, the processing branches depending on whether or not therequest has been rejected. Specifically, when the request has beenrejected (a case where the approval flag stored in the work area of theRAM unit 23 is disabled), the management server 150 makes the processproceed to step S2505. In step S2505, notification information 4)Bindicating that the request was rejected (information to be displayed onthe tab 2204 for rejected translation word of FIG. 22 or the rejectedtranslation word window 2304 of FIGS. 23 and 24, etc.) is generated, andthe management server 150 stores the notification information 4)B in thework area of the RAM unit 23 and makes the process proceed to stepS2507. When the request is not rejected (in a case where the approvalflag stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 is enabled), themanagement server 150 makes the process proceed to step S2506. In stepS2506, the management server 150 generates notification information 4)Aindicating that the request has been approved, stores the notificationinformation 4)A in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes theprocess proceed to step S2507. The notification information 4)A innormal cases does not include a message indicating that the request wasapproved after having been changed. This is because it is contemplatedthat the translator of the request-source in normal cases does not needto know the originally requested translation word other than theapproved translation word as the result of the approval.

In step S2507, a notification schedule (for example, every three hours,or 9:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., etc.) for the other translatorsother than the request-source translator is read from the configurationfile of the hard disk 28 and stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23.In step S2508, it is determined whether or not the notification time hasbeen reached based on comparison with the system time. When there is anynotification schedule for the translator for which the notification timehas been determined to be reached, then the management server 150 makesthe process proceed to step S2509. When no notification schedule hasbeen reached for any one of the schedules for the translators, themanagement server 150 makes the process return to step S2500. In stepS2509, when the translator has specified the option to makenotifications for approval information of words or phrases that are notcontained in the original text portion which the translatorhimself/herself translates, the management server 150 makes the processproceed to step S2512.

In step S2512, the management server 150 makes the notification also ina case where a word or phrase that is not contained in the original textportion of which the requester is not in charge is approved. In stepS2509, when an option for notifying the approval information of the wordor phrase that is not contained in the original text portion is notdesignated, the management server 150 makes the process proceed to stepS2510. In step S2510, the management server 150 searches the originalfile of the original text storage unit 352 within the range based on thetranslation assignment range table of the original text storage unit 352to check whether or not the original word or phrase included in theapproval information is contained in the translation assignment range ofthe original text portion of which this translator is in charge. Themanagement server 150 stores the search result in the work area of theRAM unit 23 and makes the process proceed to step S2511. In step S2511,when the original word or phrase has been found by the search (when theoriginal word or phrase is contained in the translation assignmentrange), the management server 150 makes the process proceed from stepS2511 to step S2512. Meanwhile, the original word or phrase was notfound by the search, the management server 150 makes the process go backto step S2500. In step S2512, the management server 150 transmits to thetranslator the notification information 4) stored in the work area ofthe RAM unit 23 (notification information for translators other than theapproval requester) and makes the process proceed to step S2513. In stepS2513, the management server 150 changes the notification status of thenotification log to be stored in the hard disk 28 (i.e., a log thatincludes the items included in the notification information 3), theitems included in the notification information 4), and the notificationstatus) from not-yet-notified to already-notified, and thereafter themanagement server 150 makes the process go back to step S2500. It shouldbe noted that the “notification determination unit” in claim 1, etc. ofthe application as originally filed for the present inventionapplication corresponds to a processing step which corresponds to atleast one of steps S2508, S2509, and S2511 in FIG. 25, and that the“notification information generation unit” in claim 1, etc. of theapplication as originally filed for the present invention applicationcorresponds to the processing step which corresponds to steps S2502,S2504 (because notification varies according to the content of theapproval), and S2512 in FIG. 25. As a result of the processing of FIG.25, the translation word request result is notified to the client whichis the requester and the clients other than the requester at a desiredtiming in accordance with the translation assignment range of individualtranslators, further in accordance with the content of approvalincluding presence or absence of the translation word. This is the endof the explanation of FIG. 25.

Next, FIG. 26 is the details of the reflection check processing (tocheck whether or not the approved translation word has been reflected tothe translated text), which is a function of notifying to the primarychecker the name of the translator and the number of portions that areyet to be revised and transmitting a message suggesting revision to therelevant translator(s) in accordance with the operation by the primarychecker when the translation word that was approved by the primarychecker is contained in the original text portion within the translationrange of which a certain translator is in charge but the translator doesnot revise the translation word after a lapse of a predetermined periodof time after the approval was made.

Steps S2601 to S2610 are associated with the processing procedures thatare executed by the management server 150 as an independent process. Themanagement server 150 receives the translated text portions whichindividual clients are entering or editing as appropriate from eachclient, and stores the received translated text portions in thetranslation file of the translation project file 152 of the hard disk 28of the management server 150. It may be contemplated as a modifiedembodiment that these steps are executed respectively by the client A,the client B, and the client C operated by the individual translatorsunder the control of the CPU 21 as a process that is independent of theother application programs.

It should be noted that the “notification determination unit” in claim1, etc. of the application as originally filed for the present inventionapplication corresponds to a processing step which corresponds to atleast one of steps S2508, S2509, and S2511 in FIG. 25, and that the“notification information generation unit” in claim 1, etc. of theapplication as originally filed for the present invention applicationcorresponds to the processing step which corresponds to steps S2502 andS2512 in FIG. 25.

In step S2601, the management server 150, after having waited for apredetermined period of time, makes the process proceed to step S2602.In step S2602, even when the approved content is notified, it does notnecessarily follow that the translator reflects the content of thenotification to the translated text immediately after the notification.The management server 150 determines whether or not a predeterminedconfirmation timing has been reached including, for example, whether ornot a predetermined time elapsed such as a lapse of four hours after thereception of the most recent approval information, or when apredetermined confirmation time has been reached such as 12:00 p.m. and5:00 p.m. When it has been determined that confirmation timing wasreached, the management server 150 makes the process proceed to stepS2603. When it has been determined that the confirmation timing has notbeen reached yet, then the management server 150 makes the process goback to step S2601. The predetermined confirmation timing is stored inadvance for each project ID in the configuration file of the hard disk28 of the management server 150.

In step S2603, the management server 150 searches the approval requesthistory file of the approval request history storage unit 351 anddetermines whether or not there is a newly received approval informationafter the last confirmation time. When any new approval informationexists, the management server 150 makes the process proceed to stepS2604. When there is no new approval information, the management server150 makes the process go back to step S2601. In step S2604, when thereis any word or phrase reflection of which has not been confirmed to thetranslated text (word or phrase for which any one of the reflectionflags is disabled), the management server 150 adds the word or phrase tothe work file of the hard disk 28 and makes the process proceed to stepS2605. In step S2605, the management server 150 searches the originalfile of the respective translation assignment ranges based on thetranslation assignment range table of the assignment range storage unit353, by using the original word or phrase of the new approvalinformation as a key, stores the project ID, the original word orphrase, the approved word or phrase, and the presence/absence flags forindividual translators (enabled in response to presence and disabled inresponse to absence) in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes theprocess proceed to step S2606.

In step S2606, when the original word or phrase of the new approvalinformation exists in the original text portion within the assignmentrange of the translator (if the presence/absence flag is enabled), themanagement server 150 makes the process to proceed to step S2607. If itis not found in the original text (if the presence/absence flag isdisabled), the management server 150 makes the process go back to stepS2601. In step S2607, the management server 150 searches, with regard tothe translation file of all of the translators for which thepresence/absence flags are enabled (the relevant translator), anyapproved translation word of the approval information is included in thetranslation file of the project ID stored in the work area of the RAMunit 23. When any approved translation word is included therein, themanagement server 150 determines that the approved translation word hasalready been reflected with regard to the translator who is updatingthis translation file, and sets the “reflection flag” of this translatorof the approval information of this original word or phrase, and makesthe process proceed to step S2608.

In step S2608, in accordance with the reflection flag, the managementserver 150 makes the process go back to step S2601 when the reflectionflag is disabled and the management server 150 makes the process proceedto step S2609 when the reflection flag is disabled. In step S2609, themanagement server 150 creates report information (the project ID, thetranslator ID, the original word or phrase, the translation word, and amessage indicating that the reflection is not yet made) from the searchresult, the report information indicating that no approved translationword is contained. When any approved translation word is contained, thenthe report information indicating that the reflection has been made (thereflection flag is enabled) is created, and the management server 150makes the process proceed to step S2610. In step S2610, the managementserver 150 transmits the report information to the client A operated bythe primary checker and the client Y operated by the approver, and makesthe process go back to step S2601. This is the end of the explanation ofFIG. 26.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart that illustrates the details of step S1208 on theside of the client and step S1226 on the side of the management server150 of FIG. 12, or step S508 on the side of the client and step S530 onthe side of the management server 150 of FIG. 5 in a client-server typeembodiment of the translation support system according to the presentinvention, where various processing procedures in accordance with theoperation are explained such as translation word selection operation inthe course of translation other than the translation word approval andnotification processing procedures. As one example, the processingexecuted in step S1208 of the client B and step S1226 of the managementserver 150 is explained. In the flowchart of FIG. 27, it is assumed thatthe authentication processing is already completed. Specifically, theuser ID and a password are transmitted from the client B to themanagement server 150, the management server 150 refers to theauthentication file 533 by using the user ID received from the client Bas a key, and compares the password stored as a pair with respect tothis user ID with the received password that has been received from theclient B and stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23. When thepasswords agree with each other, then the management server 150determines that the authentication is successful, transmits the userinterface information of the initial user interface corresponding tothis user ID (user interface information in the HTML format fordisplaying the initial user interface on the screen of the client B),assigns the session No., retains the session memory in the work area ofthe RAM unit 23 of the management server 150, stores the user ID and thesession No, in this session memory, and ends the authenticationprocessing.

This session No. is included in the data exchanged thereafter with theclient B. Until the end of the session, this session No. is used and itis identified which client originated this request. When data is to betransmitted to the client, the transmission destination address isidentified using this session No. When the password does not match, themanagement server 150 transmits to the client B a message indicatingthat the password does not match and ends the authentication processing.Next, processing procedures that follow the authentication processingare explained.

In FIG. 27, steps S2702 to S2712 are associated with the processingprocedures that are executed under the control of the CPU 21 of theclient B, and steps S2722 to S2735 are associated with the processingprocedures that are executed under the control of the CPU 21 of themanagement server 150. The arrows indicated with solid lines in thefigure represent the flow of control and the arrows indicated withbroken lines represent flow of data. When the data flows in bothdirections between the client B and the management server 150, the flowof data is indicated by a double-headed arrow (this also applies to theother flowcharts).

In step S2702, when the CPU 21 of the client B determines that thetransmission flag is enabled, the client B makes the process proceed tostep S2703. In step S2703, the client B transmits information such asthe file name for identifying the translation file storing thetranslated text or the original file storing the original text in thetranslation project file 152 of the management server 150 and a readrequest for the translation file or the original file to the managementserver 150 as the operation information. The management server 150stores the operation information received in step S2722 in the work areaof the RAM unit 23 of the management server 150, and makes the processproceed to step S2723.

In step S2723, when the CPU 21 of the management server 150 refers tothe work area of the RAM unit 23 and determines that the operationinformation indicates a file operation (which is read request operationof the translation file or the original file or save request operationof these files), then the management server 150 makes the processproceed to step S2724. When it has been determined that the operationinformation is not the file operation, the management server 150 makesthe process proceed to step S2725. In step S2724, the management server150 reads the selected translation file from the hard disk 28 onto thework area of the RAM unit 23, and transmits the translation file to theclient B.

The client B receives the translation file or the original fileselection of which has been designated in step S2709 and a resultmessage from the management server 150, the result message indicative ofwhether or not the reading of the translation file or the original filewas successful. The client B stores the received translation file andthe result message in the work area of the RAM unit 23, displays theresult message on the screen and ends the processing of FIG. 27, andmakes the process go back to step S1201 of FIG. 12.

Next, in step S2702, from a state where the original and the translatedtexts are read and at least a portion thereof is displayed in theoriginal window of the user interface (for example, a state where alandscape original window is displayed at the lower area of the screenand a landscape translation window is displayed in the upper area of thescreen), a word or phrase within the translated text can be selected bykey operation Ctrl+W/Q or operation of a mouse button (for example,operation of designating the start point of the selected range bypressing of the left button of the mouse, dragging the mouse rightward,and releasing the left button at the end point of the selected range). Asentence or a word or phrase within this selected range is an originalword or phrase that is yet to be translated within the translated text.When such a selection operation has been performed, the process proceedsfrom step S2702 to step S2704. The process further proceeds through stepS2704 resulting in the “No” determination and step S2706 resulting inthe “No” determination, and to step S2708.

In step S2708, although a plurality of sentences (text) can be selected,it is not possible to enter the TME mode in a state where the selectedrange bridges both sides of a paragraph symbol or a sentence end symbol(a state where the selected range extends over a range including morethan one paragraph range and a state where the selected range extendsover a plurality of sentences and the end of the selected range does notcoincide with the sentence end symbol (for example, a Japanese full stop“∘” or a period “.”)), so that the end of the selected portion isrevised such that the end of the selected portion is automaticallydemarcated by a paragraph symbol or a sentence end symbol, and theclient B makes the process go back to step S1202.

When an event of pressing of the Space key (mode switch operation) hasbeen detected again in step S2702 while the selection flag is enabled,the process proceeds to step S2704. When “Yes” resulted in thedetermination in step S2704, the client B makes the process proceed tostep S2705, the edit mode is changed to the TME mode, and the changededit mode is stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and the processgoes back to step S1202.

In step S2702, when pressing of the selected range designation key (forexample, an arrow “→” key) has been detected in a state where theprocessing mode is the TME mode, the process proceeds through step S2704(No) to step S2706.

In step S2706, when pressing of the selected range designation key (forexample, the left button of the mouse or the arrow “→” key) in the TMEmode (Yes), the client B makes the process proceed to step S2707.

In step S2707, information of the selected character string or sentence,a selection flag which requests search being enabled, and thetransmission flag being enabled is stored in the work area of the RAMunit 23. The client B makes the process go back to step S1202, stepS1204, step S1207 and then step S1208, and makes the process go back toS2702, determines that the transmission flag is enabled (that an updaterequest operation or a search request operation was made: Yes), andmakes the process proceed to step S2703.

In step S2703, the client B transmits to the management server 150 theoperation information including the character string within the selectedrange and the search request, and then clears the transmission flag. Instep S2722, the management server 150 receives the operationinformation, adds the received operation information to the work area ofthe RAM unit 23, adds the character string within the selected rangeincluded in this operation information to the history information 920,and makes the process proceed via step S2723 (No) to step S2725. In stepS2725, the management server 150 determines that the operationinformation is a search request on the basis of the selection flag beingenabled within the operation information stored in the work area of theRAM unit 23 (Yes), and then makes the process proceed to step S2726. Instep S2726, the management server 150 searches the common memory 151 byusing the character string within the selected range as a key, storeslist information of the translation word candidate(s) obtained in thesearch in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes the processproceed to step S2727. In step S2727, the management server 150transmits the list information of the translation word candidate(s) tothe client. Details of the search processing are explained withreference to FIG. 28. When it has been determined in step S2723 that theoperation is a file operation, in other words, when the CPU 21 of themanagement server 150 referred to the work area of the RAM unit 22 andhas determined that the operation information is the file operation(i.e., the read request operation for the translation file or the saverequest operation for a file), the management server 150 makes theprocess proceed to step S2724.

In step S2724, the management server 150 reads the selected translationfile from the hard disk 28 into the work area of the RAM unit 22 andthen transmits the translation file to the client B. The client Breceives the translation file of which the selection was instructed instep S2709 and the result message from the management server 150, storesthe received translation file and the result message in the work area ofthe RAM unit 22, displays the result message on the screen, and makesthe process go back to step S1201 of FIG. 12. In step S1201 of FIG. 12,the client B displays the translation file stored in the RAM unit 22 onthe screen, and makes the process proceed to step S2702. Next, when ithas been determined in step S2725 that the request is not a searchrequest (No), the management server 150 makes the process proceed tostep S2728.

In step S2728, the management server 150 determines whether or not theinformation received in step S2722 is the report information. Withregard to the transmission of the report information from the side ofthe client, see step S2609 of FIG. 26. When it has been determined thatthe received information is the report information, the managementserver 150 makes the process proceed to step S2729 and transmits thereceived report information to the client A operated by the primarychecker and the client Y operated by the approver, and makes the processgo back to step S2722 (an arrow of this portion is not shown in theflowchart). When it has been determined that the received information isnot the report information, the management server 150 makes the processproceed to step S2731.

In step S2731, the management server 150 determines whether or not theoperation information received in step S2722 is a replacement request.When it has been determined that the operation information is thereplacement request, the management server 150 makes the process proceedto step S2732. In step S2732, the management server 150 executes thereplacement processing. Specifically, the management server 150 subjectsthe selected portions of the translated text that appear at and afterthe selected position of the current word or phrase of the translatedtext to the collective replacement by the selected translation wordcandidate, updates the history information 920 storing the operationhistories of the individual translators (see FIG. 28), transmits, to theclient B, the text information for updating by the replacement theselected portions of the translation display window of the client B, andmakes the process go back to step S1222. In step S2711, the client Breceives this text information and updates, by the received textinformation, the display of the portion designated by the rangedesignation processing of the translation display window. When it hasbeen determined in step S2731 that the operation information is not thereplacement request, the management server 150 makes the process proceedto step S2734.

The setting and data conversion processing in step S2734 refers to, forexample, the priority configuration processing regarding the prioritybetween the each local memory 940 illustrated in FIG. 28 (when theprocessing of the FIG. 27 is executing step S1208 of FIG. 12, the memorythat corresponds to the local memory 125 of the client B; the processingof FIG. 27 is executing step S508 of FIG. 5, the memory that correspondsto the local memory 115 of the client A) and the common memory 151 in acase where there exists a plurality of memory units in the configurationprocessing; various configuration processing such as the search modes ofthe translation word candidate; and conversion processing for convertingvarious data into those having the data format for internal use withinthis system. Details of the conversion processing are explained withreference to FIG. 29 which will be later explained. After these variousprocessing procedures, the management server 150 makes the processproceed to step S2735, transmits the result message of the configurationprocessing or the conversion processing to the client, and makes theprocess proceed to step S2712 of the client B in the state of waitingfor the result information so that the result message is displayed onthe screen of the client B. This is the end of the explanation of FIG.27.

The following is the explanation of the details and relevant portions ofstep S2726 (search processing) and step S2732 (replacement processing)of the step FIG. 27 using the flowchart of FIG. 28. Step S2726 of FIG.27 is a processing procedure corresponding to step S1226 (processing inaccordance with the operation) on the side of the management server 150of FIG. 12; or step S530 on the side of the management server 150 ofFIG. 5. In the flowchart of FIG. 28, steps S2801 to S2806 are by way ofexample associated with the processing procedures that are executedunder the control of the CPU 21 of the client B. Steps S2821 to S2837are associated with the processing procedures that are executed underthe control of the CPU 21 of the management server 150.

In step S2821, the management server 150 searches for the historyinformation 920 by using as keys the original word or phrase that is thecharacter string for which range designation was made stored in the workarea of the RAM unit 23 in step S2722 of FIG. 27 and the project ID,stores the search result in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makesthe process proceed to step S2822. In step S2822, when the search resultstored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 corresponds to the searchconditions (range-designated character string and the project ID) (a hitresulted in the search), the management server 150 makes the processproceed to step S2826. When no hits resulted (the number of itemssatisfying the search conditions is zero), the management server 150makes the process proceed to step S2823. It may also be contemplatedthat even when any hit resulted in the search in step S2822, themanagement server 150 may make the process proceed to step S2823 andstore both of the search result of the history information 920 and thesearch result of the common memory 151 in the work area of the RAM unit23. In step S2823, the management server 150 searches the common memory151 by using as keys the range-designated character string and theproject ID and stores the search result in the work area of the RAM unit23. When any hit resulted, then the management server 150 makes theprocess proceed to step S2826. When no hits resulted, the managementserver 150 makes the process proceed to step S2825. In step S2825, themanagement server 150 searches the basic dictionary data by using therange-designated character string as a key, stores the search result inthe work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes the process proceed to stepS2826.

In step S2826, when any hit resulted in the search, the managementserver 150 sorts the search result by the date of the most recent use,the date of the most recent registration, or the like of the memoryitems in descending order, stores the sorted search result in the workarea of the RAM unit 23, and makes the process proceed to step S2827.When no hits resulted in the search in any one of steps S2821, S2823,and S2825, the management server 150 stores an error message indicatingthat “no translation word exists that corresponds to therange-designated character string” in the work area of the RAM unit 23,and makes the process proceed to step S2827. In step S2827, themanagement server 150 generates user interface information to bedisplayed on the screen of the client B using the search result or theerror message stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23, makes theprocess proceed to step S2828, and transmits the information as thetranslation word candidate list information (or error message) to theclient B. In step S2801, the client B receives the translation wordcandidate list information (or error message), displays the informationon the screen as a drop-down list of the translation word candidates,and makes the process proceed to step S2802. In step S2802, when thesearch result exists (a corresponding translation word exists), theclient B makes the process proceed to step S2803. When no search resultexists (the case of the error message) or when operation to cancel thedisplay state of the drop-down list has been detected, the client Bmakes the process go back to step S1202 of FIG. 12.

In step S2803, the client B determines whether or not there was anyoperation associated with selection of either one of the translationword candidate of the drop-down list. When there was any operationselecting the translation word, the client B stores selectioninformation (including the translation word candidate(s) as such orinformation identifying the translation word candidate(s); andreplacement classification information regarding whether the collectivereplacement is performed or individual replacement is performed for therelevant potions) indicative of the content of that operation in thework area of the RAM unit 23 and makes the process proceed to stepS2804. When there was no operation selecting the translation words, thenthe client B makes the process go back to step S2801. In step S2804, theclient B transmits the selection information for identifying theselected translation word to the management server 150. In step S2829,the management server 150 receives the selection information, stores thereceived selection information in the work area of the RAM unit 23, andmakes the process proceed to step S2830. In step S2830, the managementserver 150 uses the selection information and subjects the translatedtext stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 to the replacementprocessing (collective replacement or individual replacement), and makesthe process proceed to step S2831. In step S2831, the management server150 transmits, to the client B, user interface information fordisplaying on a screen the updated translated text reflecting thereplacement result of the translated text, and makes the process proceedto step S2832. In step S2805, the client B uses the user interfaceinformation received and stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23,updates the translated text display field of the screen, and makes theprocess proceed to step S2806. In step S2806, the client B updates thetime of the most recent use of the translation words which weredetermined as being subjected to the selection operation in step S2803of the local memory of the hard disk 28 of the client B, and makes theprocess go back to step S1202 of FIG. 12. In this manner, the reason forupdating the time of the most recent use of the local memory even whenthe highest priority is given to the common memory 151 of the managementserver 150 is to take into account a case where a network failureoccurred though the common memory is normally used and a case wherealways-on connection to the network is not available.

The discussion now returns to the explanation of the processing on theside of the management server 150. In the step 2832, the managementserver 150 updates the history information 920 based on the translationword identified by the selection information received in step S2829; theoriginal word or phrase, which is a range-designated character stringstored in the work area of the RAM unit 23; and the project ID. Thehistory information 920 is for use in storing the operation informationfor each client and the selected translation word, etc. in the hard disk28. The management server 150 then makes the process proceed to stepS2833. In step S2833, the management server 150 uses the original wordor phrase and the translation word identified by the selectioninformation and searches the shared memory 151. The management server150 stores all of the translation words corresponding to the originalword or phrase in the work area of the RAM unit 23, and makes theprocess proceed to step S2834. In step S2834, the management server 150determines (by the determination unit 444) whether or not thetranslation word identified by the selection information is an approvedtranslation word with the classification M. When the translation wordsagree with the approved translation word, the management server 150makes the process go back to step S1222 of FIG. 12.

When the translation word identified by the selection information doesnot agree with the approved translation word, the management server 150makes the process proceed to step S2835. In step S2835, the managementserver 150 generates caution information including a message indicatingthat the translator is using a translation word that is not in agreementwith the approved translation word from the translator ID of thetranslator who selected the translation word that does not agree withthe approved translation word, the original word or phrase, and thetranslation word identified by the selection information. The managementserver 150 stores the generated caution information in the work area ofthe RAM unit 23, and makes the process proceed to step S2836. In stepS2836, the management server 150 transmits this caution information tothe client Y operated by the approver and the client A operated by theprimary checker, and makes the process go back to step S1222 of FIG. 12.

Also, in step S2810 or S2813, when it has been determined that an ESCkey was pressed on the side of the client A, then the management server150 makes the process proceed to step S2814. In step S2814, theoperation information is transmitted to the management server 150, andscreen information is transmitted in turn from the management server 150(in steps S2729 and S2730 in FIG. 27). The screen information is for usein updating the user interface of the client. In step S2812, the userinterface is updated on the client A, and the drop-down list disappearsfrom the original window. This is the end of the explanation of FIG. 28and the discussion now returns to explanation of FIG. 27. After that,the CPU 21 of the client A makes the process go back from step S2711 tostep S501 or S1202.

Next, the flowchart of FIG. 11 is explained. The flowchart of FIG. 11 isa modified embodiment of a so-called stand-alone type which modifies theprocessing of FIG. 27. In accordance with the processing of FIG. 11, theother processing procedures in accordance with the operation areperformed on the client side except for the memory registration andmemory request on the client side and on the side of the managementserver 150. In the FIG. 11, steps S27 xx of FIG. 27 correspond to stepsS11 xx of FIG. 11, respectively, except that steps S2703 and S2722 ofFIG. 27 are not included. While steps S2722 to S2735 of FIG. 27 areexecuted by the management server 150, steps S1123 to S1135 of FIG. 11are executed by the client and the latter steps differ from the formersteps in that the individually registered local memory data and addedtranslation files, which are the products of the operations, areuploaded to the management server at a proper stage where some group oftasks has been completed. The content of the processing is the same andaccordingly detailed explanation is omitted. This embodiment is usefulin a case where only low-speed communication line (the network 100) isavailable with the management server 150 and a case where the client isused in a state where it is not connected to a communication line. Thisis the end of the explanation of FIG. 11.

FIG. 29 is a schematic diagram that illustrates the details of thesimultaneous edit processing for the original and translated texts,which are the processing procedures that correspond to part of stepS1208 of FIG. 12 or step S508 of FIG. 5. The simultaneous editprocessing as used herein means that it is possible to display or edit(the translation window's side) a desired one of the original text andthe translated text by a series of operations in a state where theoriginal text and the translated text are both displayed (for example,in individual windows), and it does not mean that the timings are“simultaneous.”

When the simultaneous edit function is executed, the original window andthe translation window are displayed on the display screen using theuser interface information (layout information of the user interface)read from the common memory 151.

(1) An edit control unit 2940 is configured to detect an input by thekeyboard 26 or the operation of the mouse 27 by a user 30 and determine,using the content of the operation and the position informationindicative of the position of the cursor of the mouse 27, whether theoperation is an edit operation/input for the original window, an editoperation/input for the translation window, or a data conversionoperation instructing reading or saving of external data. In accordancewith the input or the operation, the edit control unit 540 executes thedata conversion processing by an Adaptor 2910 or executes various editprocessing.

(2) When the operation subjected to the determination is a readoperation to read the external data, a general file 2901 such as MS-Wordfile, text file, HTML file, and PDF file is converted into an internalmodel 2920 by the data conversion function by the Adaptor 2910 via theedit control unit 2940 detecting any input instructing conversion ofread data of the keyboard 26 or the mouse 27. Also, the internal model2920 is converted into a dedicated file 2902 for the translation supportsystem by the data conversion function by the Adaptor 2930 via the editcontrol unit 2940 detecting any input instructing saving by the keyboard26 or the mouse 27, and is stored as part of translation project file152 of the hard disk 28.

(3) In the simultaneous edit mode, the edit control unit 540 determineswhether the edit operation (entry operation, revision operation such asdeletion and insertion) is intended for the original window or thetranslation window. Whichever of the original text and the translatedtext is revised, the edit control unit 2940 reflects it to the internalmodel (performs the updating that corresponds to the operation),reflects the result of the edit operation respectively to the originaltext or the translated text, and updates the display of the originalwindow display control unit 2950 or the translation window displaycontrol unit 2960. This is the end of the explanation of FIG. 29.

FIG. 30 is a diagram that illustrates one embodiment of a detailedflowchart of paragraph extension processing in the TME mode, whichcorresponds to the part of step S2707 of FIG. 27 or part of steps S1208and S1226 of FIG. 12. The processing procedures of FIG. 30 are thosethat are executed under the control of the CPU 21 of the client B andthe CPU 21 of the management server 150.

In step S3001, when Shift + ->/← and/or Ctrl + ->/← operations have beendetected on the side of the client B in the TME mode, the client Btransmits the operation information (information including thecharacters within the selected range and indicating that the rangedesignation operation was made) to the management server 150, and themanagement server 150 stores the operation information in the work areaof the RAM unit 23, and makes the process proceed to step S3002. In stepS3002, memory search is performed by using the characters within theselected range as a key. In this manner, it is made possible to adjustthe search range in accordance with the selected range. The searchresult is stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 and the process ismade to proceed to step S3003.

Thereafter every time the selected range is adjusted, the memory searchis performed again for the local memory and the translation wordcandidate (more than one candidate may be included), which is the resultof the agreement, is stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23. In stepS3003, it is determined whether or not there is any matching item in thelocal memory. When there is any matching item, the process is made toproceed to step S3004.

When there is no matching item in step S3003, the process is made toproceed to step S3006. In step S3004, the process is made to proceed tostep S3005 while the information of the matching item stored in the workarea of the RAM unit 23 is retained. In step S3005, when there is morethan one matching translation word, the management server 150 sorts thematching items are sorted in the order of date of use>date ofupdating>frequency of use, and transmits the information of the sortedtranslation word to the client B. On the side of the client B, theclient B displays the top item of the received translation words andmakes the process proceed to step S3007. In step S3007, the client Bdisplays highlighted characters of the selected range and ends theprocess. In step S3003, when there is no matching memory item of thelocal memory 940 with respect to a certain word within the selectedrange, the process is made to proceed to step S3006, and the originaltext is displayed on an as-is basis in the TME window and the process isended. This is the end of the explanation of FIG. 30.

FIG. 31 is a diagram that illustrates one example of the detailedflowchart of overall longest match search processing in the client B andin the management server 150 which corresponds to steps S1208 and S1226of FIG. 12 (step S2726 of FIG. 27). Here, the client B is performing thetranslation operation. In this example, the memory having the firstpriority of the client B is the common memory 151 of the managementserver 150.

First, in step S3101, the management server 150 searches the localmemory 940 for the client B of the individual registration informationstorage unit 354 by using as a key the characters within the selectedrange received in advance from the client B as the operation informationand stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 of the management server150, and makes the process proceed to step S3102. In step S3102, themanagement server 150 determines whether or not any translation wordthat corresponds to the characters of the selected range is stored inthe local memory 940. When the corresponding translation word is storedtherein, the management server 150 makes the process proceed to stepS3103. When there is no corresponding translation word stored therein,the management server 150 makes the process proceed to step S3106.

In step S3103, the management server 150 stores the characters in theselected range and the translation words which are the result of thesearch (all matching translation words) in the work area of the RAM unit23 separately and makes the process proceed to step S3104. In stepS3104, when more than one translation word is stored therein, themanagement server 150 sorts the translation words in the order of dateof use>date of updating>frequency of use (sorts the translation words inan optimum-one-first manner), transmits the information of the sortedtranslation words to the client B and makes the process proceed to stepS3107. In step S3107, the management server 150 stores the remainingportions of the characters in the selected range which do not agree withthe local memory in the work area of the RAM unit 23 as the newcharacter string of the selected range and makes the process go back tostep S3102.

In this manner, a state where a part is replaced and the other part isretained to be the same as that corresponding to the original word orphrase is referred to as Node decomposition. The Node decompositionrefers to the following situation: For example, suppose that theoriginal word is “atypical,” and “typical” and “tenkei-teki” are storedin the memory. Then the term “typical” is replaced by the term“tenkei-teki” to read as “a-tenkei-teki,” which is decomposed into twonodes of “a” and “tenkei-teki.” Meanwhile, when there is nocorresponding translation word stored in step S3102, the managementserver 150 makes the process proceed to step S3106. In step S3106, themanagement server 150 determines whether or not the characters in theselected range stored in the work area of the RAM unit 23 consist of onesingle character. When only one character is included, the managementserver 150 makes the process proceed to step S3105. When it is not onecharacter, the management server 150 makes the process proceed to stepS3108. In other words, the search end condition is the timing at whichthere will be no more characters to be severed. In step S3105, themanagement server 150, in a case where the search string bridges twowords, displays the remaining original text that has been severed by theNode decomposition on an as-is basis, and ends the processing.Meanwhile, when the characters in the selected range does not consistsof only one character in step S3106, the management server 150 makes theprocess proceed to step S3108. In step S3108, the management server 150shorten the characters in the selected range stored in the work area ofthe RAM unit 23 by one character from its beginning (deletes onecharacter from the beginning thereof) and makes the process go back tostep S3101. This is the end of the explanation of FIG. 31.

Another Embodiment 1

Another embodiment of the translation support system according to thepresent invention is explained with reference to the systemconfiguration diagram of FIG. 32 and the flowcharts of FIGS. 33 and 34.In this embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 32, the client A acts as anapprover as well as a translator. Accordingly, the flowchart of FIG. 33that illustrates the memory registration and collection processing inthe other embodiment 1 differs from the flowchart of FIG. 5 in thefollowing points. First, the processing step of FIG. 33 whichcorresponds to steps S561 to S563 of FIG. 5 where the client Y performsthe approval is eliminated. This is because the approver himself/herselfperforms the memory registration in the flowchart of FIG. 33 andaccordingly the approval request does not need to be executed. Further,the processing procedures of steps S524 to S527 executed by themanagement server and transferring the received memory information tothe client Y are also eliminated.

Further, with regard to the processing of FIG. 7 which is the detailedprocessing procedures of the inconsistent translationsearch/notification of step S532 of FIG. 5, steps S722 to S723, stepsS708 to S709, and step S741 are eliminated, so that the process proceedsdirectly from step S721 to step S742, and steps S742 to S743 areexecuted by the client A.

The remaining processing procedures are substantially the same exceptthat different step numbers are used and the order of execution of someof the steps is different. Specifically, steps S3301 to S3312 of FIG. 33correspond to steps S501 to S512 of FIG. 5, respectively. Steps S3321 toS3323 of FIG. 33 correspond to steps S521 to S523 of FIG. 5,respectively. Step S3524 of FIG. 33 corresponds to step S529 of FIG. 5.Step S3325 of FIG. 33 corresponds to step S528 of FIG. 5 while FIG. 33differs from FIG. 5 in that the process go back from step S3325 to stepS3322. Steps S3326 to S3328 of FIG. 33 correspond to steps S530 to S532of FIG. 5, respectively. This embodiment is suited to relatively smallnumber of translation projects. The primary checker can fix thetranslation words by consulting the external advisor Z as illustrated inFIG. 32 or experts by phone or facsimile or directly having interviewswith them and based on their advice or response in a case whereconsiderable amount of investigation is needed to fix the translationwords, for example, in a case of a patent in the entirely new field.

Next, the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 34, which illustrates the memoryapproval request and memory update notification processing in the otherembodiment 1, differs from the flowchart of FIG. 12 in the followingpoints. First, in steps S1261 to S1263 of FIG. 12 executed by the clientY are eliminated. Although steps S1251 to S1253 of FIG. 12 are executedby the client A, steps S3451 to S3453 of FIG. 34 are executed by theclient Y operated by the approver. As a result, step S1252 of FIG. 12 isthe “PRIMARY CHECK ENTRY,” in contrast to which step S3452 of FIG. 34 is“APPROVE/REJECT ENTRY.” In a similar manner, step S1253 of FIG. 12 isthe “TRANSMIT PRIMARY CHECK INFORMATION,” in contrast to which stepS3453 of FIG. 34 is “TRANSMIT APPROVAL INFORMATION.” The transfer stepthat corresponds to steps S1227 and S1228 of FIG. 12 is eliminated inthe processing of FIG. 34. The addition of the primary check informationto the approval request history information file 153, which is executedin step S1227 of FIG. 12, is executed in step S3427 of FIG. 34 asaddition of approval information to the approval request historyinformation file 153.

The remaining processing procedures are substantially the same exceptthat different step numbers are used. Specifically, steps S3401 to S3412of FIG. 34 correspond to steps S1201 to S1212 of FIG. 12, respectively.Steps S3421 to S3426 of FIG. 34 correspond to steps S1221 to S1226 ofFIG. 12, respectively. Steps S3427 to S3430 of FIG. 34 correspond tosteps S1229 to S1232 of FIG. 12, respectively. Steps S3440 to S3444 ofFIG. 34 correspond to steps S1240 to S1244 of FIG. 12, respectively.

Meanwhile, FIG. 34 differs from FIG. 12 in that, on one hand, stepsS1209 to S1212 are the processing procedures that are executed by theclients A and C in FIG. 12, and on the other hand, steps S3409 to S3412of FIG. 34 are those that are executed by the client B. Also, FIG. 34differs from FIG. 12 in that, on one hand, steps S1240 to S1244 of FIG.12 are the processing procedures that are executed by the client C, andon the other hand, steps S3440 to S3444 of FIG. 34 are those that areexecuted respectively by the clients A and C. Steps S3451 to S3453 ofFIG. 34 correspond to steps S1251 to S1253 of FIG. 12, explanation ofwhich is omitted, for the difference of the meaning of the content ofentry has already been explained. This is the end of the explanation ofFIG. 34 and the explanation of the other embodiment 1 is ended.

Another Embodiment 2

A modified embodiment of the present invention is explained using thesystem configuration diagram of FIG. 35. FIG. 35 is a systemconfiguration diagram of a modified embodiment of the translationsupport system according to the present invention. The difference fromthe system configuration diagram of FIG. 1 lies in the fact that theserver is divided into three servers. Specifically, in FIG. 1, theapproval request history 153, the common memory 151, and the translationproject file 152 are stored in the hard disk 28 of the managementserver, and the individual application programs are read from the harddisk 28 onto the RAM unit 23 and thus executed. In contrast, in thetranslation support system illustrated in FIG. 35, an app managementserver 3530 is capable of performing communications via the network 100with a memory management server 3520 and a project management server3540 as well as each client. Also, the app management server 3530 storesan application program 3531 in the hard disk 28 and the applicationprogram 3531 is read from the hard disk 28 onto the RAM unit 23 asappropriate and thus executed. Further, the app management server 3530stores the approval request history file 153 in the hard disk 28, andsearches the approval request history file 153 in accordance with theoperation information and various information that are received from theindividual clients, or adds new translation word approval requestinformation thereto.

Also, the app management server 3530 transmits a search request of thecommon memory 151 or the individual memory 3521 of the memory managementserver 3520 in accordance with the operation information and variousinformation that are received from the individual clients, receives thesearch result information from the memory management server 3520, andexecutes the following processing in accordance with the search resultinformation. In order to add new memory information to the common memory151 or the individual memory 3521 of the memory management server 3520,the app management server 3530 transmits the registration information,receives in turn the registration result information (registrationsuccessful/registration failed) from the project management server 3540,in accordance with the received registration result information executesthe processing of the subsequent steps, for example, the notificationprocessing and the like. Alternatively, the app management server 3530updates the existing memory information in these memory units.

In a similar manner, the app management server 3530 transmits, to theproject management server 3540, the search request for searching thetranslation project file 152 of the project management server 3540 inaccordance with the operation information and various information thatare received from the individual clients, and receives the search resultinformation from the project management server 3540. Alternatively, theapp management server 3530 transmits the registration information so asto add new information to the translation project file 152 of theproject management server 3540, and in turn receives the registrationresult information (normal termination/abnormal termination) from theproject management server 3540, and executes the subsequent steps inaccordance with the received registration result information.Alternatively, the app management server 3530 transmits the updateinformation so as to update the existing information of the translationproject file 152 of the project management server 3540, and the projectmanagement server 3540 updates the existing information of thetranslation project file 152. The app management server 3530 in turnreceives the update result information (update successful/update failed)from the project management server 3540, and executes the subsequentsteps in accordance with the received update result information.

In summary, the app management server 3530 acts as the control tower ofthe three servers and the memory management server 3520 and the projectmanagement server 3540 only function via the network 100 as if they werediscrete network air storage. Also, it also pertains to the presentinvention to integrate the memory management server 3520 and the projectmanagement server 3540 into one single body. As far as the flowchartsare concerned, this modified embodiment only differs from the originalembodiment in that the additional step of transmission and reception ofvarious request information (the search request, the informationaddition request, and the information update request) or various resultinformation (the search result, the registration result, and the updateresult) via the network 100 between the app management server 3530 andthe memory management server 3520 or the project management server 3540is added to the original embodiment in the course of the search andaddition processing of various files and the update processing of themanagement server 150, and the other aspects substantially remain thesame.

Further, another configuration also pertains to the present inventionaccording to which the approval request history file 153 is adapted tobe stored in the hard disk 28 of a request history management server(not shown) other than the app management server 3530. Also in thiscase, the difference lies in the fact that an additional step oftransmission and reception of various request information (the searchrequest, the information addition request, and the information updaterequest) or various result information (the search result, theregistration result, and the update result) via the network 100 betweenthe app management server 3530 and the request history management serveris added and the other aspects remain substantially the same. This isthe end of the explanation of the other embodiment 2.

Another Embodiment 3

Another modified embodiment of the present invention is explained usingthe system configuration diagram of FIG. 36. FIG. 36 is a systemconfiguration diagram of a modified embodiment of the translationsupport system according to the present invention. The difference fromthe system configuration diagram of FIG. 1 lies in the fact that theserver is divided into three servers and the client A is not a clientthat is operated by the primary checker but a client that is operated bya person dedicated to the translation. These two differences havealready been discussed in the context of the other embodiments 1 and 2,and the other embodiment 3 is merely a combination of them. Thedifferences with respect to the flowcharts that have already beendiscussed have also been individually discussed, so that the otherembodiment also has the same or similar features of eliminating the stepof exchange between the client A and the management server 150associated with the approval processing and addition of the step ofexchange between the app management server 3530 and the other twoservers, and accordingly detailed explanation is omitted. This is theend of the explanation of the other embodiment 3.

Another Embodiment 4

In the above-described steps S703 and S711 of FIG. 7 and step S1002 ofFIG. 10, the corresponding existing sentence is identified including thedetermination of presence or absence of division of sentence using theoriginal word or phrase and the translation word corresponding to theoriginal word or phrase newly individually registered in the individualregistration information storage unit 354 storing the self-registrationmemory data and on the basis of the paragraph number and the sentencenumber. Further, search is performed using the known scheme of morphemeanalysis to check whether or not there is any individually registeredoriginal word or phrase within the entire original text, and furtherwhether or not there is an individually registered translation wordcorresponding to the original word or phrase and thus the occurrence ofinconsistent translation is checked. Meanwhile, this method presupposesthat the paragraph numbers are assigned to both of the original text andthe translated text. When no paragraph number is assigned to theoriginal text presented by a customer, it is necessary to assign theparagraph number by a program such as a macro, etc., which is adisadvantage of this method. In contrast, it is possible to detectoccurrence of inconsistent translation even when each translator doesnot register translation words in the individual registrationinformation storage unit 354 or the local memory of each client(typically, when translation words are directly entered in thetranslated text without performing the memory registration operation),which is an advantage of this method.

In place of this method, another embodiment is also possible accordingto which an original word or phrase and the translation wordcorresponding to the original word or phrase of the individualregistration memory of each translator are simply compared with the sameoriginal word or phrase and the translation word corresponding to theoriginal word or phrase of the common memory 151 to determine whether ornot they are in agreement with each other. When a certain translationword with regard to the same original word or phrase of the individualregistration memory does not agree with that of the common memory 151,this is regarded as inconsistent translation and notificationinformation is transmitted. Also, a method is also possible according towhich an original word or phrase and the translation word correspondingto the original word or phrase of the individual registration memory ofa certain translator are compared not only with those of the commonmemory 151 but also with those of the individual registration memory ofall of the other translators. These methods have relatively lessaccuracy but reduces the load of processing. Also, in place ofcomparison on a per-sentence basis, an embodiment is also possibleaccording to which, when the translation words corresponding to theoriginal words or phrases do not exist in units of the paragraphnumbers, this is regarded as occurrence of inconsistent translation andnotification information is transmitted. In accordance with this method,the determination regarding division of sentences does not need to beprovided. Translation support systems or the like using at least one ofthese inconsistent translation determination methods also pertain to thepresent invention.

Another Embodiment 5

A modified embodiment of the details and relevant portions of step S2726(search processing) and S2732 (replacement processing) of FIG. 27 isexplained below as another embodiment 5 using the flowchart of FIG. 37.This flowchart of FIG. 37 is a modified embodiment of the flowchart ofFIG. 28. This modified embodiment is only modified in that part ofprocessing executed by the management server 150 in FIG. 28 is migratedto the client side. Steps S3701 to S3706 of FIG. 37 which are theprocessing procedures on the client side are those that correspond tosteps S2801 to S2806 of FIG. 28, respectively. Steps S3721 to S3732 ofFIG. 37 which are the processing procedures on the side of themanagement server 150 correspond to steps S2821 to S2832 of FIG. 28,respectively.

The difference of the processing of FIG. 37 from the processing of FIG.28 lies in the fact that the search request of the common memory 151 istransmitted to the management server 150 in step S3707 on the clientside; the management server 150 executes search of the common memory 151in step S3733, the management server 150 in turn transmits the searchresult to the client, and the process is made to go back to step S1222,and that the client side receives the search result in step S3707, andmakes the process proceed to step S3708, thereafter steps S3708 to S3710only differ from FIG. 28 in that, in FIG. 28, steps S2834 to S2836executed by the management server 150 is executed and then the processis made to go back to step S1202, and accordingly detailed explanationthereof is omitted. It should be noted that, with regard to thetransmission of the caution information from the client, the cautioninformation is transmitted via the management server 150 to the client Ain the case where it is operated by the primary checker and to theclient Y, but the caution information may be directly transmitted to theclients A and Y or only transmitted to either one of the clients A andY.

Another Embodiment 6

The present invention explained in the above-described embodimentencompasses a case where the individual application programs forexecuting the individual flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 7 andFIGS. 9 to 15, FIG. 17, FIG. 19, FIG. 21, FIGS. 25 to 31, FIGS. 33 to34, and FIG. 37 that control the management server 150 or the appmanagement server 3530 and each client, and, the HTML user interfaceinformation to be displayed on the client user interface illustrated inFIG. 8, FIG. 16, FIG. 18, FIG. 20, and FIGS. 22 to 24 are provided by astorage medium and a communication medium via a communication line tothe management server 150 and each client and thus executed, and a casewhere a single personal computer or terminal executes the controlprogram (so-called stand-alone type). In this case, individual steps ofthe communications between the client and the management server 150 canbe executed in place of the communication step of so-called interprocesscommunication. Alternatively, the individual steps of the communicationmay be omitted and the communication can be executed as a singleprocess.

Another Embodiment 6

According to the above-described embodiments, the section whose displayis inverted, for example, by pressing the left button of the mouse,dragging the mouse rightward (downward if the original text is displayedin a portrait mode), and then releasing the left button, is defined as aselected range (scope), overall longest match search is executed inaccordance with this selected range, and one or more correspondingtranslation words (the word or phrase within the selected range of theoriginal text if no corresponding translation words were found) aredisplayed in the drop-down list. With regard to the display of thetranslation word candidate(s) in the drop-down list, the overall longestmatch search is performed every time the selected range is extended, andthus the matching translation word candidate or candidates are displayedin the drop-down list. However, it is also possible to cumulativelydisplay the corresponding translation word candidates. Specifically, itis also possible to store in the work area of the RAM unit 23 all of thecorresponding translation words as a result of the overall longest matchsearch at each position of the drag operation and display all of them inthe drop-down list.

In this case, when a translation word candidate A and a translation wordcandidate B have been found by the drag operation and the longest matchsearch at the cursor position (1), subsequently the drag operation iscontinued, and a translation word candidate C and a translation wordcandidate D have been found by the longest match search at the cursorposition (2), then the translation word candidate C and the translationword candidate D as well as the translation word candidate A and thetranslation word candidate B are displayed in the drop-down list. Here,the subsequently found translation word candidates C and D are displayedat the top of the list while the translation word candidates A and B aredisplayed below the candidates C and D (read from the work area of theRAM unit 23 in a reverse order). It will be appreciated that in thedrop-down list the translation word candidates A and B may be displayedat the top of the list and the translation word candidates C and D maybe displayed below the candidates A and B. These translation wordcandidates A to D may consist of one word or may be constituted by aplurality of words (including a phrase and a clause).

Another Embodiment 7

The translation word candidate found by the forward longest match searchfrom the first selected position of the scope adjusted to coincide withthe scope of the selected range (inverted display range) is stored inthe work area of the RAM unit 23 and a plurality of candidates are madeto be displayed in the drop-down list (multiple candidates are displayedas the selected position is extended). The total number of displayedcandidates is made to be, for example, 40 items (40 rows), and thetranslation word candidate that has been newly found at the time of theselected range being extended from the left to the right is displayed atthe top of the drop-down list, and old translation word candidatesexceeding the 40 items are hidden. The number of items of “40” can bespecified and changed within a predetermined numerical range (forexample, up to 100 candidates), and the specified value is stored aspart of the configuration information file within the folder for theclient application of the hard disk 28 of each client.

Another Embodiment 8

With regard to the display of the translation word candidates by thedrop-down list, it is ensured that the overall longest match search isperformed every time the selected range is extended and matchingtranslation word candidates are displayed. Meanwhile, it may also becontemplated that memory search is re-executed in accordance with thedesignation timing of the selected range (for example, in response tothe movement of the drag operation of the mouse). Specifically, forexample, it may be contemplated that the start point of the selectedrange is designated by pressing the left button of the mouse at theparticular position of the original text and then performing rightwarddrag operation of the mouse. The memory search is re-executed when themovement of the drag operation stopped for a predetermined period oftime (for example, 0.5 seconds or more) so that the relevant translationword candidates are displayed.

Specifically, this can be achieved by addition of a step of detectingthe cursor position by the drag operation of the mouse, and determiningthat the drag operation has stopped when the cursor position did notchange for a predetermined period of time or when only changed by apredetermined value (for example, the variation in the X- andY-coordinates is 5 or less), and thus executing the memory search onlywhen the stop determination=Yes. Also in this case, it is possible toonly display the translation word candidates that were found in the mostrecent memory search in the drop-down list. Meanwhile, it is alsopossible to store all of the relevant translation words found in thelongest match search at each position of the drag operation in the workarea of the RAM unit 23 and display all of them in the drop-down list.The predetermined time and the predetermined value of the variation inthe coordinates are also stored as part of the configuration informationfile within the folder for the client application of the hard disk 28.

Another Embodiment 9

The present invention explained in the above-described embodimentencompasses a case where the individual application programs forexecuting the individual flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 7 andFIGS. 9 to 15, FIG. 17, FIG. 19, FIG. 21, FIGS. 25 to 31, FIGS. 33 to34, and FIG. 37 that control the management server 150 or the appmanagement server 3530 and each client, and the HTML user interfaceinformation to be displayed on the client user interface illustrated inFIG. 8, FIG. 16, FIG. 18, FIG. 20, and FIGS. 22 to 24 are provided by astorage medium and a communication medium via a communication line tothe management server 150 and each client and thus executed, and a casewhere a single personal computer or terminal executes the controlprogram (so-called stand-alone type). In this case, individual steps ofthe communications between the client and the management server 150 canbe executed in place of the communication step of so-called interprocesscommunication. Alternatively, the individual steps of the communicationmay be omitted and the communication can be executed as a singleprocess. A control method also pertains to the present invention,according to which the individual control steps for executing thecontrol program(s) described in these flowcharts are executed by themanagement server 150 and the individual clients, or by one singlepersonal computer (PC) to display the user interfaces.

By way of example, a case where the processing of the client A operatedby the approver and the processing of the management server 150 areexecuted by the same hardware also pertains to the present invention. Inthis case, the exchange of messages via the network 100 between theclient A and the management server 150 in the above-described flowchartsis replaced, for example, by interprocess communication between theclient A and the management server 150. Also, a computer-readablestorage medium storing these control programs and information fordisplaying the user interfaces is intended to effectuate the presentinvention by making this storage medium read by the management server150 and each client, or one single personal computer (PC) and executingthe control programs, so that the computer-readable storage medium assuch that stores these control programs and the information fordisplaying the user interfaces also pertains to the present invention.

APPENDIX

An app management server of a translation support system allowingcommunications between a plurality of servers and a plurality of clientsvia communication lines, in which:

the servers includea project management server that includes a translation project storageunit configured to store in units of projects at least an original textto be translated and a translated text corresponding to the originaltext, and a project search unit configured to search the translationproject storage unit; anda memory management server that includes a storage unit that can becommonly used by each of the clients and is a common storage unitconfigured to store at least an original word or phrase and an approvedtranslation word corresponding to the original word or phrase approvedby the approver, a common search unit configured to search the commonstorage unit, and a common registration unit configured to register theoriginal word or phrase and the approved word or phrase in the commonstorage unit;the clients include a request-source client operated by a translator ofa request-source requesting to an approver an approval of a translationword of a particular original word or phrase and an approver clientoperated by the approver;the app management server includesa search request unit configured to use the search request received fromthe client and request the project search unit of the project managementserver to perform search or request the common search unit of the memorymanagement server to perform search,a search result transfer unit configured to transfer search resultinformation received from the project management server or the memorymanagement server to the client that received the search request,a registration request unit configured to transmit informationrequesting registration of the original word or phrase and the approvedword or phrase received from the client to the memory management server,a transfer unit configured to transfer translation word approval requestinformation including at least original word or phrase received from therequest-source client to the approver client,an approval request history storage unit configured to store approvalresult information including at least approve-or-reject informationcorresponding to the translation word approval request informationreceived from the approver client and an approved translation word thatis a translation word corresponding to the original word or phrase,a notification storage unit configured to store notification messageinformation corresponding to the approve-or-reject information,a notification determination unit configured to determine, in accordancewith the approve-or-reject information, the necessity of notification tothe clients other than the approver client and determine which piece ofthe notification message information stored in the storage unit shouldbe notified to each of the clients,a notification information generation unit configured to transmitnotification information, to one or more clients for which notificationor respective notifications have been determined to be necessary, thenotification information including the notification message informationin accordance with the determination by the determination unit, theoriginal word or phrase, and the approved translation word in accordancewith the client or clients for which the notification or the respectivenotifications have been determined to be necessary, the app managementserver being illustrated in FIG. 35,wherein the approver client includes the primary checker client operatedby the primary checker and the approver client operated by the approver,andthe server further includes a confirmation request unit configured totransfer the approved translation word received from the approver clientto the primary checker client when the approval candidate translationword received from the primary checker client and the approvedtranslation word received from the approver client are not in agreementwith each other.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The translation support system according to the present invention makesit possible to notify updating of the memory and efficiently update theapproved memory even in a case where a plurality of translatorssimultaneously perform the translation operations, and also makes itpossible to successively check inconsistent translation in thetranslated text, so that the system is useful as a translation supportsystem that is capable of creating efficient and high-quality translatedtexts.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   100: Network-   110: Client A-   115: Local memory-   120: Client B-   125: Local memory-   130: Client C-   135: Local memory-   150: Management server-   151: Common memory-   152: Translation project file-   153: Approval request history-   190: Client Y-   195: Advisor Z-   20: System bus-   21: CPU-   22: ROM unit-   23: RAM unit-   24: VGA-   25: LAN adapter-   26: Keyboard-   27: Mouse-   28: HDD-   29: DVD-ROM drive

1. A translation support system allowing communication between a serverand a plurality of clients via a communication line, in which: theclients include a request-source client and an approver client, therequest-source client being operated by a translator of a request-sourcerequest to an approver an approval of a translation word of a particularoriginal word or phrase, and the approver client being operated by theapprover; the server comprises a transfer unit configured to transfertranslation word approval request information to the approver client,the translation word approval request information including at least anoriginal word or phrase received from the request-source client, anapproval request history storage unit configured to store approvalresult information at least including: the translation word approvalrequest information received from the approver client; approve-or-rejectinformation in accordance with the translation word approval requestinformation; and an approved translation word that is a translation wordcorresponding to the original word or phrase, a notification storageunit configured to store notification message information in accordancewith the approve-or-reject information, a notification determinationunit configured to determine, in accordance with the approve-or-rejectinformation, necessity of notification to a client or clients other thanthe approver client and determine which piece of the notificationmessage information stored in the approval request history storage unitshould be notified to each of the clients, and a notificationinformation generation unit for transmitting approval information, inaccordance with the determination by the notification determinationunit, to one or more clients for which notification or respectivenotifications have been determined to be necessary, the approvalinformation including the notification message information, the originalword or phrase, and the approved translation word in accordance with theclient or clients for which the notification or the respectivenotifications have been determined to be necessary; the client comprisesan original text storage unit configured to store at least an originaltext portion within an assignment range of which a translator operatingthe client is in charge of translation, an approval list informationgeneration unit configured to generate approval list information fordisplaying an approval list on a screen of the client using the approvalinformation received from the server, the approval list containing atleast the original word or phrase and the approved translation word, asearch unit configured to check whether or not the original word orphrase included in the approval information is contained in the originaltext portion within the assignment range; wherein the approval listinformation generation unit is configured to generate display attributeinformation of either the original word or phrase or the translationword such that the attribute information of the original word or phraseis different from that of the translation word, depending on a casewhere the original word or phrase of the approval list information iscontained in the original text portion within the assignment range andan other case where the original word or phrase of the approval listinformation is not contained in the assignment original range as aresult of the search by the search unit.
 2. The translation supportsystem according to claim 1, wherein the client further comprises: adetermination unit configured, in a translation operation fortranslating the original text portion within the assignment range into apredetermined language, to determine that a different translation wordhas been selected as a translation word for the particular original wordor phrase, the different translation word being different than theapproved translation word corresponding to the same original word orphrase of the approval information; and a caution information generationunit configured to generate caution information when the determinationunit has determined that the different translation word has beenselected, the different translation word being different than theapproved translation word corresponding to the same original word orphrase of the approval information, the caution information including atranslator ID identifying the operator of the other client or at leastone piece of other information identifying the other client, theoriginal word or phrase, the approved word or phrase, and the differenttranslation word, wherein the caution information is transmitted to atleast either one of the server and the approver client.
 3. A client of atranslation support system allowing communications between a server anda plurality of clients via a communication line, the client comprising:an original text storage unit configured to store at least an originaltext portion within an assignment range for which a translator operatingthe client is in charge of translation; an approval list informationgeneration unit configured to generate approval list information fordisplaying an approval list on a screen of the client using the approvalinformation received from the server, the approval list including atleast an original word or phrase and a corresponding translation word;and a search unit configured to check whether or not the original wordor phrase included in the approval information is contained in theoriginal text portion within the assignment range, wherein, the approvallist information generation unit is configured to generate displayattribute information of either the original word or phrase or thetranslation word such that the attribute information of at least one ofthe original word or phrase and the translation word is different fromthat of an other of the original word or phrase and the translationword, depending on a case where the original word or phrase of theapproval list information is contained in the original text portionwithin the assignment range and an other case where the original word orphrase of the approval list information is not contained in the originaltext portion within the assignment range based on the search unit. 4.The client according to claim 3, further comprising: a determinationunit configured, in a translation operation for translating the originaltext portion within the assignment range into a predetermined language,to determine that a different translation word has been selected as atranslation word for the particular original word or phrase, thedifferent translation word being different than the approved translationword corresponding to the same original word or phrase of the approvalinformation; and a caution information generation unit configured togenerate caution information when the determination unit has determinedthat the different translation word has been selected, the differenttranslation word being different than the approved translation wordcorresponding to the same original word or phrase of the approvalinformation, the caution information including a translator IDidentifying the operator of the other client or at least one piece ofother information identifying the other client, the original word orphrase, the approved word or phrase, and the different translation word,wherein the caution information is transmitted to at least either one ofthe server and the approver client.
 5. A client of a translation supportsystem allowing communications between a server and a plurality ofclients via a communication line, the client comprising: an originaltext storage unit configured to store at least an original text portionwithin an assignment range of which a translator operating the client isin charge; a translated text storage unit configured to store atranslated text corresponding to the original text portion within theassignment range; an approval list information generation unitconfigured to generate approval list information including at least anoriginal word or phrase and a corresponding translation word using theapproval information received from the server; an original text searchunit configured to check whether or not the original word or phraseincluded in the approval information is contained in the original textportion within the assignment range; a corresponding translationextraction unit configured to extract, in units of sentences, based onthe search hit location of the original text portion within theassignment range, a sentence containing the original word or phrase, anda predetermined number of original sentences including this sentencecontaining the original word or phrase and preceding and subsequentsentences with respect to this sentence, and a translated textcorresponding to the sentence containing the original word or phrase andthe predetermined number of original sentences including this sentencecontaining the original word or phrase and preceding and subsequentsentences with respect to this sentence when the original word or phraseof the approval list information is contained in the original textportion within the assignment range according to the original textsearch unit; and a bilingual display information generation unitconfigured to display the original text and the translated textextracted by the corresponding translation extraction unit on a displayscreen of the client such that the original text and the translated textare vertically or horizontally arranged next to each other, andconfigured to generate display information for displaying respectiveinput units adapted to specify the allowability of updating on a basisof the approval list information.